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PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES 


OF  THE 


REBELLION 


1861-1866 


BY 

LE  GRAND   B.  CANNON 
\* 

COL.,  U.  S.  A. 


NEW  YORK 
1895 


C.9,5 


1  *  *  *  3  JRR  •PRINTING  Wo&Srf 


Befcicatefc  to  m$ 


This  volume  is  printed  for  private   distribution  among 
my  family  and  friends. 


987955 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY  7 

CHAPTER   I. 

CAUSES  AND  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  REBELLION g 

CHAPTER    II. 

THE  AWAKENING  OF  LOYAL  SENTIMENT  IN  NEW  YORK.   ...     14 

CHAPTER    III. 
WITH  GENERAL  WOOL  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 21 

CHAPTER    IV. 

WITH  GENERAL  WOOL  IN  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  VIRGINIA..     45 

CHAPTER   V. 

THE    EARLIEST    EMANCIPATION    AND    USE   OF    NEGROES  IN 
MILITARY  SERVICE 54 

CHAPTER   VI. 
THE  MONITOR  AND  MERRIMACK 75 

CHAPTER   VII. 
IRST  SERVICE  OF  NEGROES  IN  THE  UNION  FORCES 100 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
NEGOTIATING  FOR  AN  EXCHANGE  OF  PRISONERS 115 

CHAPTER    IX. 
THE  REBEL  POST-OFFICE  AND  PRISONERS'  LETTERS 120 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   X. 

PAGE 

FLAGS  OF  TRUCE,  SPIES,  AND  CONTRABAND  ;   VARIOUS  INCI 
DENTS 126 

CHAPTER   XL 

McCLELLAN's    CAMPAIGN   ON   THE    PENINSULA 144 

CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  PRESIDENT  AT  FORT  MONROE,  AND  CAPTURE  OF  NOR 
FOLK 153 

CHAPTER   XIII. 
PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN 167 

CHAPTER   XIV. 
WITH  GENERAL  WOOL  IN  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  EAST..  176 

CHAPTER    XV. 
THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB  AND  THE  REBELLION 185 

CHAPTER   XVI. 
AT  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN  AND  BURLINGTON 196 

CHAPTER   XVII. 
SOME  OTHER  REMINISCENCES  AND  PERSONAL  EPISODES 200 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 
IN  CONCLUSION 221 


INTRODUCTORY. 


BEING  now  in  the  eightieth  year  of  my  life,  I 
am  induced  to  comply  with  the  repeated  urgings 
of  my  family  and  not  a  few  of  my  friends,  to  make 
a  record  of  my  public  life  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States  during  the  Rebellion,  and  of  my 
personal  experiences  with  the  military  and  civil 
powers  of  the  Government.  It  has  been  a  custom 
with  the  members  of  my  family,  which  for  near 
two  and  a  half  centuries  has  been  identified  with 
the  progress  of  the  country,  to  leave  to  their  de 
scendants  something  of  a  record  of  their  lives  and 
services,  and  to  transmit  to  the  eldest  son  of  the 
senior  line  these  mementoes  of  the  family.  By 
this  observance  I  am  the  inheritor  of  the  records 
of  the  family — Huguenot  emigrants  from  France 
— and  of  the  ancient  family  plate,  used  in  the 
motherland  three  hundred  and  fifty  or  more  years 
ago.  In  these  circumstances  and  with  an  observ- 

o 

ance  of  this  custom  of  our  forefathers,  I  am  influ- 


8  INTRODUCTORY. 

enced  to  continue  to  my  children  such  a  record 
of  some  events  in  my  life  which  may  be  interest 
ing  if  not  profitable  to  them. 

The  original  letters,  despatches,  and  orders  con 
nected  with  my  military  experiences  and  the  inci 
dents  related  in  this  book,  together  with  other 
like  personal  documents  and  papers,  are  contained 
in  a  manuscript  scrap-book  bearing  the  title  "  Le 
Grand  B.  Cannon,  Col.  and  A. B.C.,  U.S.A.; 
Letters,  Orders,  and  Reports,  the  Rebellion,  1861 
to  1866,"  which  is  in  the  possession  of  my  family, 
and  to  which  reference  may  be  made. 


Personal  Reminiscences  of  the  Rebellion, 


CHAPTER  'I;  ; 

CAUSES  AND    COMMENCEMENT   OF   THE  REBELLION. 

THE  great  embarrassment  of  the  fathers  of  this 
country  was  in  the  effort  to  establish  and  main 
tain  a  system  of  government  under  two  widely 
different  forms  of  civilization,  the  one  based  on 
Ireedom  and  the  other  on  slavery.  The  advance 
in  wealth  and  population  of  the  free  States  of  the 
North  over  the  slave  States  created  a  natural  an 
tagonism  between  the  slave  States  and  the  free 
States,  which  intensified  year  by  year  with  the 
broadening  of  the  differences  between  the  two 
sections  of  the  country.  The  sentiment  of  the 
North  in  this  direction  was  aggravated  b}7  the 
weakness  and  imbecility  of  the  representatives  of 
the  Democratic  Party  of  the  North  in  being  sub 
missive  to  the  demands  of  the  politicians  of  the 


10  REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

South,  and  was  farther  aggravated  by  the  viola 
tion  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  by  the  passage 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  by  the  attempt  to 
impose  slavery  in  the  Territory  of  Kansas.  All 
this  resulted  in  a  weakening  of  the  Democratic 
Party  in  the  North  by  the  defection  of  the  anti- 
slaVefy  and  independent  element  in  it,  and,  finally, 
in"  th£:1bri,ri3t{on  p'f  tire  Republican  Party,  which 
practically  absorbed  the  Whig  Party  and  culmi 
nated  in  the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  Presi- 

t 

dent  in  1860. 

The  election  of  Lincoln  was  deeply  resented  by 
the  people  of  the  South,  and  South  Carolina  took 
the  lead  in  expressing  the  bitterness  of  the  resent 
ment,  first  by  threats,  and  finally  by  the  passage 
of  the  ordinance  of  secession,  which  was  quickly 
followed  by  the  passage  of  similar  ordinances  of 
secession  by  all  the  slave  States  excepting  Mary 
land,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  Delaware,  the  lat 
ter  having  a  strong  loyal  sentiment  and  the  three 
former  being  occupied  immediately  by  United 
States  forces,  which  prevented  any  legislative  act 
of  disloyalty.  The  secession  ordinances  declared 
in  effect  that  the  Union  was  simply  a  confederacy, 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  II 

and  that  these  States  passing  the  ordinances  would 
separate  themselves  from  the  free  States  of  the 
North  and  West,  and  establish  an  independent 
government.  These  acts  were  quickly  followed 
by  the  seizure  of  Federal  property  by  the  South, 
and  later  by  the  firing  on  the  flag  of  the  Union 
and  the  capture  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  first  step  in 
the  actual  Rebellion. 

But  there  were  other  matters  worthy  of  note 
that  led  up  to  this  climax.  After  the  election  of 
Lincoln  and  previous  to  his  inauguration,  so  fee 
ble,  imbecile,  and  disloyal  was  the  then  existent 
administration  of  President  Buchanan  that  the 
public  credit  was  prostrated.  The  Government 
was  verging  on  bankruptcy  and  had  not  money  to 
pay  even  the  necessary  expenses  of  administration. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Philip  F.  Thomas, 
came  to  New  York  to  negotiate  a  temporary  loan 
of  three  million  dollars  to  enable  the  Government 
to  pay  the  current  expenses  of  the  administration. 
He  was  ready  to  submit  to  any  terms.  The  banks 
of  the  city  held  a  meeting  to  consider  the  matter, 
and  so  low  was  the  credit  of  the  Government,  and 
so  great  the  distrust  of  the  administration,  that 


12  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

they  refused  to  loan  the  money  on  any  terms 
whatever.  It  was  evident  that  the  nation  would 
become  bankrupt,  and  a  few  thoughtful,  patriotic 
men  immediately  after  this  refusal  urged  upon  the 
attention  of  the  banks,  that  if  public  credit  were 
gone  private  credit  would  quickly  follow,  and  that 
it  would  be  policy  to  let  the  Government  have 
the  loan  on  any  conditions,  even  if  the  money 
were  lost.  The  banks  then  consented  to  make  a 
temporary  loan  of  three  million  dollars,  at  twelve 
per  cent  interest,  on  the  express  condition  that 
the  money  should  be  used  simply  and  solely  to 
meet  the  current  expenses  of  administration.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  a  notoriously  disloyal 
man,  violated  that  contract  by  making  a  heavy 
draft  to  be  deposited  in  a  New  Orleans  bank. 
The  bankers  of  New  York  advised  the  Govern 
ment  they  would  not  pay  any  more  drafts  of  that 
kind  on  this  loan,  and  demanded,  furthermore, 
that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  responsible 
for  this  breach  of  faith,  be  dismissed  and  a  man 
appointed  in  his  place  in  whom  they  could  have 
confidence.  Their  protest  resulted  in  the  retire 
ment  of  Thomas  from  the  Cabinet  and  the  ap- 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  13 

pointment  of  Major-General  John  A.  Dix  as  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury. 

The  Government  wanted  yet  more  money,  and 
General  Dix  appealed  to  the  New  York  bankers 
to  show  their  confidence  in  him  and  in  his  loyalty 
by  making  a  further  loan.  Their  response  was 
prompt  and  conclusive.  General  Dix  obtained 
the  money  he  needed  at  the  rate  of  ten  and  a 
half  per  cent  interest. 

These  facts  are  related  as  a  necessary  connec 
tion  of  events  to  show  the  lamentable  condition  of 
the  country  ;  that  the  national  laws  were  set  at 
defiance  in  the  Southern  States,  and  that  the  na 
tional  credit  was  practically  destroyed.  Lincoln 
assumed  the  office  of  President  with  all  these  em 
barrassments  before  him  ;  with  an  armed  resist 
ance  to  the  law  and  a  bankrupt  Treasury  ;  with  a 
North  greatly  divided  in  opinions  and  a  solidly 
hostile  South. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE    AWAKENING    OF    LOYAL    SENTIMENT    IN    NEW 
YORK. 

THE  effect  of  the  capture  of  Fort  Sumter  by 
the  South  was  immediately  recognized  by  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  and  he  at  once  issued  his  call  for 
75,000  troops  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  na 
tion.  The  call  was  received  coldly  in  New  York 
City.  The  city  had  very  large  business  interests 
with  and  was  a  great  creditor  of  the  South.  The 
banking  interests,  represented  in  a  great  degree 
by  a  foreign  element,  was  naturally  timid,  or  in 
strong  sympathy  with  the  demands  of  the  South. 
So  prevalent  and  aggressive  was  the  disloyal  sym 
pathy,  that  the  loyal  men  of  the  city  were  de 
graded  by  the  term  of  "  Black  Republicans." 
There  was  practically  no  immediate  public  re 
sponse  in  the  city  of  New  York  to  the  call  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  The  only  re 
sponse  was  the  order  of  the  Republican  Governor 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  15 

of  the  State  sending  forward  the  organized  militia 
regiments  for  the  protection  of  Washington.  The 
day  after  the  President  issued  his  call  not  a  flag 
was  visible  in  the  city,  and  there  was  no  public, 
patriotic  response. 

A  few  earnest,  patriotic  men,  feeling  that  the 
Government  should  have  immediate  and  adequate 
support,  met  in  the  office  of  Mr.  Simeon  Draper 
on  the  day  following  the  issue  of  the  call,  April 
i6th,  1861.  These  men  were  Mr.  Moses  H.  Grin- 
nell,  Mr.  Milford  Blatchforcl,  Mr.  Christopher  R. 
Robert,  Mr.  Richard  H.  McCurdy,  Mr.  Samuel 
Sloan,  and  myself.  They  met  to  determine  what 
action  should  be  taken  to  support  the  Federal 
Government  in  maintaining  the  integrity  of  the 
nation,  and  to  take  steps  to  determine  the  public 
opinion  and  sentiment  of  the  city. 

Perhaps  no  better  evidence  of  the  dominant 
sentiment  of  New  York  City  can  be  offered  than 
the  flagrantly  disloyal  act  of  the  mayor  of  the 
city,  Fernando  Wood,  in  this  crisis.  Large  quan 
tities  of  arms  had  been  ordered  in  the  city  by  the 
revolted  State  of  Georgia.  The  orders  were 
filled,  and  the  arms  were  in  the  course  of  ship- 


l6  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

ment  when  the  police  authorities  of  the  city  inter 
posed  and  stopped  them.  The  mayor  apologized 

-. 

to  the  State  of  Georgia  for  this  act  of  the  police, 
expressed  his  regret,  and  excused  himself  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  no  power  over  the  police  force 
of  the  city,  and  could  not  prevent  their  action  in 
the  matter. 

Furthermore,  a  regiment  was  being  recruited 
in  this  city,  in  defiance  of  all  law,  to  be  used  for 
the  purpose  of  aiding  the  South  in  her  resistance 
to  Federal  authority. 

The  meeting  at  Mr.  Draper's  office  decided  to 
adjourn  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Richard  H.  McCurdy, 
on  Union  Square,  and  met  there  again  that  same 
evening.  There  were  a  few  other  gentlemen  at 
this  second  meeting  besides  those  who  first  started 
the  project  at  Mr.  Draper's  office.  Included 
among  these  were  Mr.  William  M.  Evarts  and 
General  John  A.  Dix.  It  was  determined  that  a 
public  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  New  York  should 
be  called  to  declare  their  sentiments  in  support  of 
the  nation.  Mr.  William  M.  Evarts  and  General 
Dix  were  appointed  a  committee  to  draft  a  call. 
It  was  decided  that  the  call  should  be  on  so  broad 


REMINISCENCES    OF  THE    REBELLION.  I/ 

a  basis  that  no  loyal  person  could  refuse  to  sign 
it.  As  adopted  by  the  meeting  the  call  was  in 
the  following  words  : 

"  Citizens  of  New  York  in  favor  of  maintaining 
the  laws  and  Constitution  of  the  United  States  are 
requested  to  assemble  in  Union  Square  on  Satur 
day,  April  2oth,  at  two  o'clock." 

As  a  matter  of  policy  it  was  considered  best 
that  leading  Democrats  of  the  city  should  be 
prominently  identified  with  the  movement  to  hold 
the  meeting.  Mr.  Samuel  Sloan,  an  original 
Democrat,  but  an  intensely  loyal  man,  volunteered 
to  get  the  names  of  leading  Democrats  subscribed 
to  the  call.  The  meeting  adjourned  to  reconvene 
the  following  day  at  the  rooms  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  to  learn  what  progress  had  been  made. 

Mr.  Sloan  appeared  at  the  meeting  next  day 
greatly  depressed,  and  stated  that  several  leading 
men  of  the  city,  notably  Mr.  Belmont,  Mr.  Sam 
uel  J.  Tilden,  Mr.  Royal  H.  Phelps,  and  others 
had  refused  to  sign  the  call  for  a  meeting  in  favor 
of  the  maintenance  of  the  laws  and  Constitution 
of  the  United  States. 

There  had  been  no  expression  of  public  opinion 


1 8  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

in  New  York  City  in  reference  to  the  situation 
confronting  the  nation,  and  no  medium  had  been 
provided  for  an  expression  of  the  popular  will. 
The  outlook  was  gloomy,  and  a  pall  seemed  to 
fall  upon  the  city.  The  various  possibilities  in  the 
matter  were  discussed,  when  suddenly,  as  with  a 
burst  of  inspiration,  Mr.  Simeon  Draper,  a  very 
prominent  citizen  and  a  conspicuous  member  of 
the  Republican  Party,  exclaimed  : 

'  Damn   the   swallow-tails  ;    let's    go    for    the 
ground  tier  !" 

In  a  short  conference  between  Mr.  Draper  and 
myself  it  was  decided  to  send  for  one  of  his 
friends,  Mr.  Elder,  a  prominent,  working  politi 
cian,  who  had  a  large  follawing  in  the  lower  wards 
of  the  city.  When  Mr.  Elder  came  we  explained 
to  him  our  plan  for  getting  an  expression  of  public 
sentiment.  He  was  to  collect  a  considerable  body 
of  men— stevedores,  laborers,  and  such  people 
from  about  the  docks — get  a  fife  and  drum  and  an 
American  flag,  and  have  the  men,  with  the  flag 
in  the  fore  and  headed  by  the  fife  and  drum, 
march  in  procession  from  the  Battery  up  Broad 
way  the  next  day.  Our  object  was  to  see  what 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  19 

would  be  the  effect  on  the  people  generally  of  the 
sight  of  the  flag  thus  borne,  as  a  kind  of  patriotic 
proclamation  of  their  loyalty  to  the  Union,  by 
this  element  of  society.  It  was  arranged  that 
some  of  our  party  should  be  at  Broadway  and 
Wall  Street  to  meet  the  procession,  to  take  ad 
vantage  of  whatever  might  result. 

All  this  was  done  as  arranged.  Fifty  or  sixty 
men  gathered  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city  and 
started  up  Broadway  in  procession,  a  small  Ameri 
can  flag  waving  at  the  head  of  the  column,  the 
fifer  playing  patriotic  tunes  and  the  drummer 
beating  a  rousing  accompaniment  to  the  steps  of 
the  marchers.  The  curious  procession  immedi 
ately  attracted  great  attention.  Broadway  was 
crowded.  At  the  top  of  Wall  Street  forty  or  fifty 
gentlemen  joined  the  procession  and  moved  down 
Wall  Street.  The  effect  was  electrical.  All  Wall 
Street  emptied  out  and  cheered  for  the  flag,  and 
in  immensely  augmented  numbers  the  procession 
started  for  the  Journal  of  Commerce  office.  That 
paper  had  been  very  disloyal,  and  a  demand  was 
made  that  the  American  flag  should  promptly  be 
displayed  on  the  building.  There  was  but  little 


20  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

hesitation  before  the  flag  was  hung  out.  Then 
the  procession  started  for  the  office  of  the  New 
York  Herald,  a  dense  mass  of  cheering  enthusiasts. 
Long  before  the  procession  reached  the  office  a 
dozen  flags  were  flying  from  the  building.  Then  a 
move  was  made  on  the  office  of  the  News  ;  and  so 
on  until  every  newspaper  in  the  city  that  had 
shown  a  hesitant  or  doubtful  spirit  had  been  com 
pelled  to  display  the  Union  flag.  Within  twenty- 
four  hours  the  flag  was  flying  from  every  church- 
steeple  in  the  city,  and  the  whole  place  was  ablaze 
with  patriotic  enthusiasm. 

Thus  was  the  loyal  sentiment  of  New  York  City 
aroused  by  the  simple  device  of  the  flag. 

The  great  mass-meeting  in  Union  Square  which 
followed  was  a  marvellous  success.  The  enthusi 
asm  there  aroused  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the 
Union  Defence  Committee,  composed  of  the  lead 
ing  men  of  the  city,  in  public  and  private  life,  or 
ganized  to  give  all  possible  aid  to  the  Government 
in  its  efforts  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Union 
with  men,  money,  and  material. 


CHAPTER  III. 

WITH  GENERAL  WOOL   IN  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  ELLIS  WOOL  was  at  this 
time  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  East, 
United  States  Army,  with  headquarters  at  Troy. 
Some  time  previous,  and  following  closely  on  the 
secession  of  the  Southern  States,  all  General 
Wool's  staff,  with  the  exception  of  the  late  Gen 
eral  Arnold,  A. B.C.,  had  deserted  him  ;  had  re 
signed  from  the  United  States  Army  and  gone 
into  the  service  of  the  Confederacy.  Having 
served  with  General  Wool,  on  his  staff,  many 
years  before,  he  requested  me  to  again  become  a 
member  of  his  staff.  I  at  once  accepted,  and  on 
April  23d,  1861,  was  appointed  Volunteer  Aide- 
de-Camp  to  General  Wool.  General  Wool  also 
appointed  as  volunteer  aides  on  his  staff  Mr.  Alex 
ander  Hamilton  and  Mr.  George  Schuyler. 

Major-General  Scott  was  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  Army,  with  headquarters  at  Washington. 


22  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

The  city  of  New  York  was  cut  off  from  any  com 
munication  with  Washington  through  the  destruc 
tion  of  roads,  bridges,  and  telegraph  wires.  There 
was  no  responsible  officer  of  the  Government  in 
New  York  to  muster  in  troops  and  provide  for 
supplies,  transportation,  and  the  like.  General 
Wool  at  once  transferred  his  headquarters  from 
Troy  to  New  York  City,  and  took  command  here 
a  few  days  after  the  Union  Square  meeting.  He 
at  once  began  most  active  work,  in  co-operation 
with  the  Union  Defence  Committee,  in  mustering 
troops,  securing  supplies,  and  forwarding  men. 
His  prompt  measures  resulted  in  the  providing  of 
a  military  force  at  Washington  sufficient  to  ensure 
the  defence  of  the  capital  against  the  threatened 
attacks  of  the  rebel  troops  from  Virginia  and 
Maryland.  He  was  most  energetic  in  fostering 
the  loyal  sentiment  of  the  people  of  New  York, 
making  arrests  of  men  wrho  indulged  in  disloyal 
talk,  and  encouraging  in  every  way  the  upbuild 
ing  of  a  patriotic  enthusiasm  for  the  defence  and 
preservation  of  the  Union.  All  this  he,  of  course, 
did  without  any  orders  or  authority  from  Wash 
ington.  It  was  impossible  to  communicate  with 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  23 

the  heads  of  the  Government  and  War  Depart 
ment,  and  he  acted,  as  he  believed  to  be  for  the 
best  interest  of  the  country,  on  his  own  responsi 
bility. 

But  his  great  success  and  consequent  popularity 
aroused  the  seemingly  not  altogether  disinterested 
disapproval  of  General  Scott— disapproval  encour 
aged  doubtless  by  his  son-in-law,  Colonel  Scott, 
Adjutant-General  on  his  staff,  a  disloyal  man,  who 
left  the  service  of  the  United  States  shortly  after 
ward.  General  Wool  was  rebuked  by  General 
Scott  and  ordered  back  to  Troy  to  re-establish 
his  headquarters  there.  The  very  remarkable 
letter  in  which  General  Scott  ordered  General 
Wool  back  to  Troy  indicates  that  other  than  mere 
military  reasons  were  prominent  in  inducing  the 
action. 

On  his  return  to  Troy  General  Wool  addressed 
the  following  letter  to  me  : 

HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  EAST, 

TROY,  May  4,  1861. 

DEAR  COLONEL  CANNON  :  Presuming  that  you 
may  be  of  service  to  the  Union  Defence  Commit 
tee  in  New  York  City,  I  have  to  request  that  you 
will,  until  further  orders,  place  yourself  in  com- 


24  REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

munication  with  them,  to  afford  such  aid  and  ad 
vice,  unofficially,  as  may  be  requested,  and  report 
to  me  from  time  to  time  at  this  place. 

JOHN  E.  WOOL, 

Major-  General. 

The  highly  important  and  interesting  events  of 
General  Wool's  brief  command  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  the  whole  of  the  circumstances  of  his 
coming,  his  work  here,  and  his  recall,  are  told  in 
the  following  personal  letter  from  General  Wool 
to  myself  : 

TROY,  N.  Y.,  July  10,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  COLONEL  :  I  have  frequently  been 
asked  why  I  am  not  in  the  field  battling  against 
the  traitors  of  the  Union. 

The  causes  may  be  found  in  the  following  con 
densed  history  of  the  services  I  rendered  in  the 
execution  of  important  and  responsible  duties, 
assumed  on  my  part  at  a  moment  of  great  peril 
to  the  country,  and  when  the  Federal  Capital  was 
in  imminent  danger  of  being  taken  possession  of 
by  the  rebels  from  Virginia  and  Maryland. 

You  will  recollect  the  attack  of  a  Massachusetts 
regiment  passing  through  Baltimore,  which  re 
sulted  in  destroying  several  long  bridges  between 
Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  of  divers  railroad 
tracks,  and  cutting  the  telegraph  wires  leading 
from  Washington  to  the  North,  prevented  for  six 
days  any  communication  with  the  latter  city  and 
the  Northern  States.  It  was  under  these  circum^ 


REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION.  25 

stances  I  visited  Governor  Morgan.  I  found  him 
in  a  state  of  alarm  for  the  safety  of  the  capital, 
which  he  was  apprehensive  would  be  taken  pos 
session  of  by  the  secessionists.  While  with  him 
he  received  a  telegraph  despatch  to  hurry  troops 
with  all  possible  haste  to  Washington.  He  also 
received  a  despatch  tendering  the  services  of  Col 
onel  Ellsworth's  regiment,  with  a  request  to  ac 
cept  it,  which  he  complied  with  at  my  earnest 
recommendation  ;  when  I  gave  orders  to  Colonel 
Tompkins,  United  States  Quartermaster  at  New 
York,  to  furnish  transportation,  and  Major  Eaton, 
Commissary  of  Subsistence,  thirty  days'  rations 
to  each  soldier,  for  as  many  regiments  as  might 
be  ordered  by  the  Governor  at  Washington.  I 
ordered  that  number  of  rations  because  the  troops 
could  only  reach  Washington  by  either  the  Poto 
mac  or  Chesapeake  Bay. 

Governor  Morgan  left  the  same  evening,  Satur 
day,  April  2Oth,  for  New  York.  I  informed  him 
I  would  follow  on  Monday.  On  the  next  day  the 
Governor  transmitted  by  telegraph  the  following 
letter  : 

NEW  YORK,  April  21,  1861. 
General  John  E,   Wool,  Troy,  N.   Y.  : 

I  am  glad -to  learn  that  you  will  proceed  to  New 
York  to-morrow  to  superintend  the  forwarding  of 
troops  from  this  and  other  States  mustered  into 
the  service  of  the  General  Government.  It  is 
eminently  proper  that  a  high  officer  of  the  Army 
of  the  United  States  should  discharge  this  impor 
tant  duty.  E.  D.  MORGAN. 


26  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

On  the  same  day  I  received  the  following  letter 
by  telegraph  from  Thurlow  Weed  : 

NEW  YORK,  April  21,  1861. 
General  John  E.   Wool,  Troy,  N.   Y.  : 

Understanding  you  are  to  be  here,  I  deem  it 
advisable  from  instructions  I  have  from  the  Sec 
retary  of  War,  General  Cameron,  that  you  should 
be  at  the  Astor  House  with  me. 

THURLOW  WEED. 

By  Mr.  Weed's  letter  you  will  perceive  that  I 
was  expected  to  be  with  him  at  the  Astor  House, 
which  I  could  not  assent  to  from  the  circumstance 
that  I  had  already  engaged  quarters  at  the  St. 
Nicholas  Hotel,  to  which  place  I  had  directed  all 
letters,  telegrams,  etc.,  intended  for  me  to  be  sent. 

On  Monday,  April  22d,  I  proceeded  to  New 
York  and  took  quarters  at  the  St.  Nicholas.  Soon 
after  my  arrival  Mr.  Weed  called  on  me  and  urged 
me  to  take  quarters  at  the  Astor  House,  previous 
to  which  I  had  been  earnestly  requested  to  do  so 
by  Mr.  Stetson,  to  which  I  declined,  and  from 
the  fact  that  it  would  produce  confusion,  as  tele 
graph  despatches  were  constantly  being  received 
from  the  Governors  of  States  and  other  persons. 

On  the  23d  the  Union  Defence  Committee  called 
on  me,  among  whom  were  General  Dix,  Chair 
man  ;  Mr.  Draper,  Vice-Chairman  ;  ex-Governor 
Fish,  Messrs.  Evarts,  Wetmore,  Dehone,  Grin- 
nell,  Blatchford,  Marshall,  Sloan,  and  others. 
They  desired  to  know  what  I  was  prepared  to  do 


REMINISCENCES   OF  THE    REBELLION.  2/ 

in  this  hour  of  great  peril  to  the  country,  the 
capital  being-  in  imminent  danger  of  being  taken 
by  the  rebels  ;  I  replied  anything  that  would  save 
the  capital,  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  de 
pended  on  its  safety.  A  programme  was  soon 
arranged,  which  I  approved  of  in  behalf  of  the 
United  States,  and  immediately  set  about  carry 
ing  it  into  effect.  In  this  place  it  may  be  proper 
to  say  I  reminded  the  committee  that  I  had  as 
sumed  a  fearful  responsibility,  and  that  probably 
I  would  be  the  only  victim,  but  under  the  circum 
stances  I  was  prepared  to  make  the  sacrifice  if  by 
it  the  capital  could  be  saved. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  at  this  time  the 
citizens  of  the  whole  North,  East,  and  West  were 
in  the  highest  state  of  excitement,  from  apprehen 
sions  that  the  capital  of  the  Union  would  fall  into 
the  possession  of  the  rebels  of  the  South  ;  and  in 
the  city  of  New  York  they  were  ready  to  de 
nounce  the  administration,  and  even  threatened 
to  overturn  the  Government  and  elect  a  dictator, 
because  of  the  loss  of  Norfolk  with  the  navy 
depot,  which  had  cost  many  millions,  and  Harper's 
Ferry,  where  we  had  an  armory  for  the  manufac 
ture  of  arms,  and  the  Federal  Capital  in  danger 
of  similar  fate  ;  and  all,  as  was  asserted,  from  the 
gross  neglect  of  the  administration  to  provide  the 
necessary  means  for  their  protection. 

It  was  under  such  circumstances,  with  all  com 
munications  closed  between  Washington  and  the 
North,  that  I  entered,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Union  Defence  Committee,  upon  the  important 


28  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

duties  which  the  emergency  seemed  to  demand. 
No  time  was  to  be  lost,  as  it  appeared  to  every 
one  with  whom  I  held  conversation,  in  forwarding 
troops  for  the  defence  and  protection  of  the  capi 
tal.  The  whole  country  was  organizing  and  arm 
ing  with  a  determination  to  march  to  Washington. 
On  my  arrival  at  New  York  I  found  requisitions 
from  the  Governors  of  nine  States  for  arms  and 
ammunition,  all  of  whom  by  my  orders  were  fur 
nished  with  a  greater  or  less  number  of  arms,  and 
as  many  rounds  of  ammunition  as  could  be  spared. 
Prompt  and  energetic  measures  were  adopted  by 
myself  as  well  as  the  committee  to  secure  the 
capital.  Ships  were  chartered,  supplies  furnished, 
and  troops  forwarded  with  the  utmost  despatch 
to  Washington  via  the  Potomac  River  and  Chesa 
peake  Bay  to  Annapolis,  steamers  were  sent  to 
protect  the  ships  from  capture  by  two  privateers 
reported  to  be  off  Cape  Henry.  All  vessels  carry 
ing  troops  and  supplies  were  either  armed  or  con 
voyed  to  their  places  of  destination  ;  in  all  which 
we  were  supported  and  greatly  aided  by  Commo 
dore  Breese.  The  steamship  Quaker  City,  after 
landing  her  troops  at  Annapolis,  was  ordered  to 
report  to  Colonel  Dimick,  commanding  Fortress 
Monroe,  to  prevent  the  transportation  of  cannon, 
etc.,  from  Norfolk  to  Old  Point  Comfort  to  be 
siege  that  fortress,  and  also  to  look  out  for  priva 
teers  and  to  protect  our  vessels  going  up  the 
Potomac  and  Chesapeake  Bay. 

On  the  requisitions  of  Colonel  Dimick  I  ordered 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  29 

provisions,  carriages,  ammunition,  and  imple 
ments  to  Fortress  Monroe. 

Being  informed  that  the  troops  at  Washington 
were  short  of  provisions,  I  ordered  Major  Eaton, 
until  otherwise  directed,  to  send  by  Perrysville 
to  Annapolis  30,000  rations  daily.  All  which  was 
promptly,  efficiently,  successfully,  and  without 
any  accident  whatever  executed  ;  and,  as  was  re 
ported,  saved  the  metropolis  from  the  ravages  of 
war  and  capture  by  the  rebels  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland. 

Instead  of  ordering  arms  xto  the  Governor  of 
Illinois,  as  applied  for,  I  requested  him  to  take 
possession  of  the  arsenal  at  St.  Louis.  I  also  tele 
graphed  ex-Governor  Banks  to  assist  the  Governor 
in  taking  the  arsenal  ;  and  for  the  same  purpose 
I  sent  a  special  messenger  to  the  Hon.  F.  P.  Blair, 
with  the  request  that  he  would  assist  in  securing 
the  arsenal.  With  the  return  of  the  messenger  I 
received  the  thanks  of  Mr.  Blair  for  the  interest 
I  manifested  in  the  people  of  the  West  ;  and  the 
Governor  of  Illinois  telegraphed  me  that  he  had 
received  from  the  arsenal  21,000  stand  of  arms 
and  110,000  rounds  of  ammunition,  two  6-pounder 
guns  and  ammunition  for  the  same.  I  also,  upon 
application  of  the  Governor,  ordered  32-pound- 
er  cannon,  carriages,  etc.,  to  be  prepared  at  the 
Allegheny  Arsenal  for  Cairo. 

I  authorized  the  Governor  of  New  Hampshire 
to  place  the  navy  depot  and  harbor  of  Portsmouth 
in  a  state  of  defence  without  incurring  any  un 
necessary  expenses. 


30  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

I  also  gave  Governor  Andrew  permission  to 
occupy  the  forts  in  Boston  Harbor  for  the  pur 
pose  of  drilling  and  disciplining  volunteers  in 
tended  for  Washington. 

I  gave  authority  to  the  Mayor  and  Common 
Council  of  New  Bedford  to  erect  defences  on 
Clark's  Point,  for  the  protection  and  defence  of 
the  city  and  harbor,  at  the  cost  of  the  city,  but  to 
be  surrendered  up  to  the  United  States  whenever 
required  by  proper  authority.  I  approved  of 
placing  into  Fort  Adams  volunteers  for  the  pro 
tection  of  the  harbor  and  town  of  Newport  by 
Governor  Sprague,  of  Rhode  Island. 

In  order  to  ascertain  if  my  services  in  connec 
tion  with  the  Union  Defence  Committee  met  the 
approbation  of  the  General-in-Chief,  as  well  as 
the  Secretary  of  War,  I  reported  to  Lieutenant- 
General  Scott  on  April  23d  and  25th  what  I  had 
done  and  was  doing.  On  the  25th  I  also  wrote  to 
the  Secretary  of  War,  when  I  informed  him  that 
I  had  transmitted  to  Lieutenant-General  Scott 
several  despatches  of  what  I  was  doing  without 
receiving  any  reply,  and  I  concluded  my  letter  by 
saying,  "  /  am  extremely  anxious  to  know  the  vieivs 
of  the  administration  and  what  it  desires.  I  am 
running  ivithout  rudder  or  compass."  By  this  ex 
pression  I  intended  to  be  understood  that  I  was 
executing  high  and  important  functions  without 
orders,  but  which  the  emergency  required,  the 
Capital  of  the  Union  being  in  imminent  peril  of 
being  captured  by  Southern  rebels. 

Receiving  no  acknowledgments,  and  anxious  to 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION.  31 

know  how  my  conduct  was  viewed  by  the  aiitJiorities 
at  Washington^  I  sent  a  special  messenger,  Colonel 
Schuyler,  Volunteer  Aide-de-Camp,  to  call  upon 
Lieutenant-General  Scott,  the  Secretary  of  War, 
and  the  President,  and  to  inform  each  and  all  the 
part  I  was  performing  and  to  obtain  their  replies. 
He  was  unsuccessful,  and  returned,  after  much 
trouble  and  delay  on  the  road,  on  the  morning  of 
May  ist,  and  reported  to  me  that  he  had  been 
unable  to  obtain  any  information  on  the  subject  of 
his  mission. 

To  all  which  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  add 
that,  while  receiving,  by  request,  a  passing  re 
view  of  Colonel  Ellsworth's  Regiment  of  Zouaves 
on  its  route  to  embark  for  Washington,  Major- 
General  Sandford,  with  one  of  his  staff,  in  a  hur 
ried  and  excited  manner,  presented  me  with  an 
order  from  Governor  Morgan  forbidding  the  em 
barkation  of  the  regiment,  unless  reduced  to  the 
number  prescribed — 77  to  a  company — and  urged 
me  to  order  the  whole  to  embark,  as  no  part  of 
the  regiment  would  go  unless  all  were  included. 
The  regiment  was  escorted  by  5000  firemen.  The 
order  of  the  Governor  produced  intense  excite 
ment.  I  replied  to  the  General  that  I  would  not 
be  the  first  to  check  the  noble  and  patriotic  en 
thusiasm  of  the  citizens  of  New  York.  The  regi 
ment  as  it  was  should  embark.  This  announce 
ment  caused  the  most  enthusiastic  cheering  of  the 
regiment,  the  firemen,  and  the  tens  of  thousands 
of  spectators,  which  continued  long  after  the  im 
posing  spectacle  had  passed  in  review. 


32  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

I  have  thus  detailed  the  most  essential  part  of 
the  services  which  I  performed  in  conjunction  with 
the  Union  Defence  Committee  from  April  23d  to 
May  ist,  inclusive,  when  late  in  the  evening  of 
the  latter  day  I  received  a  communication  from 
Lieutenant  General  Scott,  through  his  Assistant 
Adjutant-General,  E.  D.  Townsend,  in  which  he 
recommended  that  I  should  ' '  return  to  Troy  to 
conduct  the  ordinary  routine  duties  of  my  depart 
ment  and  for  the  recovery  of  my  health,  known 
to  be  feeble,"  when  at  the  time  my  health  was 
perfect,  as  it  has  been  ever  since.  No  sick  or 
feeble  person  could  have  performed  the  services 
demanded  by  the  universal  uprising  of  the  people 
of  the  free  States,  north  of  the  border  States,  in 
consequence  of  the  threatened  danger  of  the  Fed 
eral  Capital  by  rebels  from  Virginia  and  Mary 
land. 

The  loss  of  the  capital  might  lead  to  the  break 
ing  up  permanently  of  the  Union.  It  was  this 
that  caused  an  excitement  that  could  not  be  re 
strained.  The  people  rose  in  their  majesty,  de 
termined,  no  matter  what  might  be  the  sacrifice, 
to  save  the  capital  and  with  it  the  Union.  Believ 
ing  what  every  person  believed,  that  the  capital 
was  in  danger,  and  without  being  able  to  commu 
nicate  with  the  authorities  at  Washington,  I  as 
sumed  the  responsibility  of  carrying  out  not  only 
the  views  and  wishes  of  the  Union  Defence  Com 
mittee,  but  those  of  the  whole  people  of  the  North, 
which  embraced  no  less  the  Federal  capital  than 
the  whole  Union. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  33 

On  May  7th,  after  I  had  left  New  York  for  my 
headquarters,  as  required  by  Lieutenant-General 
Scott,  T  received  from  the  Secretary  of  War  the 
following  letter,  not,  however,  in  reply  to  any 
letter  from  myself  : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  May  6,  1861. 

To  Major -General  John  E.  Wool,  Troy,  N.   Y.  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Appreciating  as  I  do  your  long, 
able,  and  faithful  services  and  loyalty  to  the  cause 
of  the  country,  I  write  merely  to  request  that  no 
requisition  for  troops  or  orders  for  their  removal 
be  hereafter  issued  without  first  communicating 
with  this  department. 

You  will,  my  dear  sir,  not  consider  this  any  re- 
flection  on  anything  you  may  have  heretofore 
done,  but  merely  to  avoid  any  conflict  of  orders 
or  confusion  of  arrangements,  and  that  the  de 
partment  may  at  all  times  know  the  number  of 
troops  called  out,  and  how  they  may  be  made 
available  at  the  shortest  notice  without  interfering 
with  any  previous  orders. 

With  sentiments  of  the  highest  personal  regard, 
and  the  strongest  appreciation  of  your  valor  and 
patriotism,  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 
Very  truly  yours, 

SIMON  CAMERON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

This  letter  I  acknowledged  in  the  following 
words  : 


34  REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  EAST, 
TROY,  N.  Y.,  May  9,  1861. 

Hon.  Simon  Cameron,  Secretary  of  War  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Be  pleased  to  accept  my  grate 
ful  acknowledgments  for  your  communication  of 
the  6th  instant.  It  is  especially  gratifying  to 
learn  that  my  conduct  hitherto  in  relation  to  the 
affairs  of  the  Union  meets  your  high  approbation. 

Although  I  am  aware  that  with  the  press  of 
business  you  have  little  time  to  read  letters,  yet 
as  my  conduct  in  connection  with  the  Union  De 
fence  Committee  of  the  citizens  of  New  York  may 
not  be  perfectly  understood  or  appreciated  by  all 
in  authority  at  Washington,  I  avail  myself  of  this 
occasion  to  present  you  with  a  condensed  history 
of  the  part  I  performed  in  the  forwarding  of  troops 
and  supplies  for  the  protection  arid  defence  of 
Washington,  which  at  the  time  was  reported  to 
be  in  imminent  peril. 

To  which  I  added  a  history  of  my  action  with 
the  Union  Defence  Committee,  as  represented  in 
this  communication,  with  the  omission  of  order 
ing  Colonel  Ellsworth's  regiment  to  embark  and 
a  few  others  of  no  importance,  and  concluded  my 
letter  as  follows  : 

'  It  is  reported  in  New  York  that  I  was  en 
gaged  in  making  contracts  for  supplies  of  various 
kinds  to  further  the  objects  of  the  Union  Defence 
Committee,  and  that  the  reports  have  reached 
Washington.  It  is  due  to  myself  to  say  that  I 
made  no  contracts  of  any  kind  whatever  for  the 
committee  or  in  behalf  of  the  Government.  At 


REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION.  35 

the  request  of  the  committee,  however,  I  signed 
two  charter  parties  for  the  ships.  I  understood 
the  committee  paid  the  expenses  out  of  the  city 
funds." 

To  this  letter  I  received  from  the  Secretary  of 
War  the  following  reply  : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  June  7,  1861. 

Major -General  JoJm  E.   Wool,  Troy,  N.   Y.  : 

DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge 
the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  Qth  ult.,  and  I  beg 
you  to  believe  that  nothing  but  a  desire  to  give 
that  careful  consideration,  which  I  found  myself 
unable  to  do,  at  an  earlier  moment,  has  delayed 
my  acknowledging  of  its  receipt. 

You  state  that  it  is  reported  in  New  York  that 
you  were  engaged  in  making  contracts  for  sup 
plies  of  various  kinds  to  further  the  objects  of  the 
Union  Defence  Committee,  and  that  these  reports 
have  reached  Washington,  and  you  explain  the 
extent  of  your  participation  in  the  proceedings  of 
that  committee  in  regard  to  the  contracts.  This, 
I  beg  to  assure  you,  was  unnecessary  on  your 
part.  No  such  rumors  or  reports  have  reached 
this  department,  and  if  they  had  would  have  re 
ceived  no  consideration  unfavorable  to  your  char 
acter.  Your  own  high  personal  character,  as  well 
as  your  patriotic  devotion  to  the  country  and 
long- tried  services  in  its  defence,  afforded  a  suffi 
cient  shield  to  protect  you  against  idle  reports 
and  vague  rumors. 


36  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

After  giving-  a  condensed  history  of  the  part 
you  performed  in  forwarding  of  troops  and  sup 
plies  for  the  protection  and  defence  of  Washing 
ton,  and  which,  as  you  state,  were  performed 
without  orders  from  any  quarter,  you  say  you  re 
ported  what  you  had  done  and  were  doing  to 
Lieutenant-General  Scott,  without  obtaining  any 
reply,  and  that  you  remained  ignorant  of  the 
wishes  of  the  authorities  until  3-011  recei.ved  a 
communication  from  the  General-in-Chief  direct 
ing  37-011  to  repair  to  headquarters  at  Troy.  You 
express  an  anxiety  to  learn  whether  the  part  you 
performed  met  the  approbation  of  the  General-in- 
Chief  or  the  War  Department  ;  and  though  you 
do  not  expressly  say  that  the  letter  of  the  General- 
in-Chief  leaves  you  in  doubt  on  the  subject,  3'our 
letter  justifies  this  inference,  and  I  therefore  deem 
it  but  due  to  you  to  say  that  this  department  has 
no  disposition  to  find  fault  with  or  make  com 
plaint  of  your  conduct  in  the  emergency  to  which 
your  letter  refers.  On  the  contrary,  it  believes 
that  you  were  prompted  by  patriotic  motives,  and 
that  you  did  nothing  but  what  3Tou,  at  the  time, 
were  fully  persuaded  was  necessary  and  under 
the  circumstances  proper.  The  order  of  the  Gen 
eral-in-Chief  could  therefore  not  have  been  in 
tended  to  reflect  upon  your  conduct  while  acting 
in  conjunction  with  the  Union  Defence  Committee 
in  the  cit3r  of  New  York,  though  a  self-constituted, 
but  patriotic  bod}T. 

In  answering  you  thus  frankly,  in  order  to  put 
your  mind  at  rest  as  to  the  views  of  this  depart- 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  37 

ment,  it  is  due  to  it,  as  well  as  to  you,  that  I 
should  add  in  the  same  spirit  that  you  were  or 
dered  to  return  to  your  headquarters  at  Troy,  be 
cause  the  issuing  of  orders  by  you  on  the  applica 
tion  of  the  various  Governors  for  arms,  ammuni 
tion,  etc.,  without  consultation,  a  detailed  account 
of  which  you  gave  in  your  letter,  seriously  em 
barrassed  the  prompt  and  proper  administration 
of  the  department,  and  could  not  be  permitted  to 
be  continued  without  a  disregard  of  law  as  well 
as  the  disarrangements  of  its  operations.  This 
alone  was  sufficient  to  order  your  return  to  head 
quarters.  Although  the  War  Department  had  no 
disposition  to  find  fault  with  your  motives,  unau 
thorized  as  were  your  acts,  feeling  assured  that  it 
was  the  result  of  patriotic  motives,  it  was  itself, 
in  its  ordinary  course  of  official  business,  attend 
ing  to  the  same  matters  through  its  properly  au 
thorized  officers,  and  you,  General,  so  expend 
enced  an  officer  as  you  are,  must  admit  on  reflec 
tion  that  it  could  not  permit  a  continuance  of 
operations  so  conflicting  with  its  own,  however 
pure  and  patriotic  might  be  the  motives  which  in 
duced  them. 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

SIMON  CAMERON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

The  concluding  paragraph  of  this  letter,  I  must 
confess, 'surprises  me.  Indeed,  I  find  myself  un 
able  to  reconcile  what  is  there  said  with  the  letter 
of  May  6th.  In  this  Secretary  Cameron  declares 


38  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

he  appreciates  my  zeal,  long,  able,  faithful,  and 
loyal  services  to  the  country,  with  the  assurance 
that  in  saying  what  he  did  he  intended  no  reflec 
tion  on  anything-  that  I  had  heretofore  done.  In 
the  letter  of  June  7th  the  Secretary  says  that  I 
was  ordered  to  return  to  my  headquarters  at  Troy 
because  the  issuing  of  orders  by  me,  on  the  appli 
cation  of  the  various  Governors  for  arms,  ammu 
nition,  etc.,  without  consultation — a  detailed  ac 
count  of  which  I  gave  him  in  my  letter —seriously 
embarrassed  the  prompt  and  proper  administra 
tion  of  his  department,  and  could  not  be  permitted 
to  be  continued  without  a  disregard  of  law,  as 
well  as  the  disarrangement  of  its  operations. 
'  This  alone  was  sufficient  to  order  }^our  return 
to  headquarters."  He,  however,  believes  that  1 
was  prompted  by  patriotic  motives,  and  that  I 
did  nothing  but  what  I  at  the  time  was  fully  per- 
f  u.aded  was  necessary  and  under  the  circumstances 
proper.  The  Secretary,  while  penning  the  causes 
which  sent  me  to  my  headquarters,  must  have 
overlooked  the  fact  that  at  the  time  I  was  issuing 
orders  to  supply  the  various  Governors  with  arms 
and  ammunition  no  communication  could  be  had 
with  the  authorities  at  Washington,  and  therefore 
he  could  not  be  consulted.  Nevertheless,  I  made 
efforts  to  consult  him  by  reporting  what  I  was 
doing  to  Lieutenant-General  Scott,  at  the  same 
time  writing  to  him,  anxious  to  know  the  wishes 
and  desires  of  the  administration.  Finally,  I  sent 
a  special  messenger  to  Washington,  who  returned 
without  obtaining  any  information  on  the  subject. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  39 

But  the  Secretary  says  I  seriously  embarrassed 
the  prompt  and  proper  administration  of  its  oper 
ations,  and  that  it  was  itself  in  its  ordinary  course 
of  business  attending-  to  the  same  matters  through 
its  properly  authorized  officers.  (See  Cummings' 
letter,  which  follows,  for  "authorized  officers.") 
How  could  this  be  when  all  communications  be 
tween  Washington  and  the  Northern  States  were 
prevented  by  the  rebels  in  Baltimore?  If,  how 
ever,  arrangements  were  made  in  relation  to  the 
movements  of  troops,  or  of  arming  the  militia 
with  reference  to  future  operations  in  the  field  or 
the  protection  of  Washington,  as  indicated  by  the 
Secretary,  I,  as  commander  of  the  Eastern  De 
partment,  and  next  in  rank  to  Lieut.enant-General 
Scott,  ought  to  have  been  notified  of  the  fact. 
This  would  have  been  no  less  in  accordance  with 
the  usual  practice  than  it  was  due  to  the  high 
character  so  frankly  awarded  to  me  in  the  several 
communications  of  the  Secretary.  Again,  my  ex 
perience  in  organizing  and  preparing-  volunteers 
for  the  field  would  of  itself  have  been  sufficient  to 
have  designated  me  for  the  services  which  the 
perilous  state  of  the  capital  seemed  to  demand. 
I,  however,  received  no  orders  in  the  case.  To 
hurry  troops  to  Washington  was  not  sent  to  me, 
but,  as  it  would  appear,  to  the  Union  Defence 
Committee  of  New  York  and  the  Governors  of 
States.  The  emergency  demanded  prompt  action. 
It  was  called  for  by  the  free  States  of  the  North, 
from  apprehension  that  not  only  the  Federal  Capi 
tal,  but  the  Union  was  in  danger  of  a  total  disso- 


40  REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

lution.  The  services  which  I  performed  were  in 
accordance  with  the  wishes  and  desires  of  the 
people  of  the  States  north  of  the  border  States, 
and  approved  and  urged  by  Vice-President  Ham- 
lin,  Governor  Morgan,  Senator  Sherman,  of 
Ohio  ;  Senator  Chandler,  of  Michigan  ;  Senator 
Foote,  of  Vermont;  Senator  Baker,  of  Oregon; 
to  which  I  might  add  all  the  Governors  of  the 
Northern  free  States.  The  requisitions  on  me  of 
the  various  Governors  were  in  consequence  of 
not  being  able  to  communicate  with  the  authori 
ties  at  Washington.  If  I  had  failed  or  hesitated 
to  perform  what  the  whole  country  required,  I 
would  have  been  denounced  for  wanting  in  zeal 
and  firmness,  if  not  as  an  enemy  to  the  coun 
try. 

I  received  no  instructions  from  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  heard  of  none,  except  in  the  despatch 
of  Thurlow  Weed,  dated  April  2ist,  and  what 
will  be  found  in  the  following  letter  : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  April  21,  iS6i. 

Alexander  Cinnmings,  Esq.  : 

This  department  needs  at  this  moment  an  in 
telligent,  experienced,  and  energetic  man,  in  whom 
it  can  rely  to  assist  in  pushing  forward  troops, 
ammunitions,  and  supplies.  You  are  acquainted 
with  the  internal  arrangement  and  connections  of 
the  railroads  in  Pennsylvania,  over  which,  for  the 
present,  they  will  have  to  come  ;  and  while  I  am 
aware  that  your  private  affairs  may  demand  your 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  41 

time,  I  am  sure  your  patriotism   will  induce  you 
to  aid  me  even  at  some  loss  to  yourself. 

With  this  view  I  will  thank  you,  in  consultation 
with  the  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  to  assist 
in  getting  vessels  or  arranging  with  the  railroad 
companies,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  troops, 
as  fast  as  they  are  ready  to  march  to  their  destina 
tion,  and  also  to  assist  them  in  making  purchases 
or  other  arrangements,  and  to  communicate  at  the 
earliest  moment  any  information  of  service  to  this 
department. 

Very  respectfully, 

SIMON  CAMERON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

The  above  letter  was  endorsed  by  me  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  Alexander  Cummings  will  confer  with  Col 
onel  Tompkins  and  Major  Eaton,  who  will  give 
such  instructions  as  will  enable  him  to  carry  out 
the  instructions  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  He 
will  also  confer  with  the  Union  p«fence  Commit 
tee,  who  will  employ  him  in  the  capacity  and  in 
the  discharge  of  the  duties  indicated  in  the  in 
structions  of  the  Secretary  of  War." 

By  examination  of  Secretary  Cameron's  letter 
to  Alexander  Cummings,  Esq.,  it  will  be  perceived 
that  a  civilian  was  charged  with  the  execution  of 
duties  that  properly  belonged  to  the  staff-officers 
stationed  in  the  city  of  New  York — viz.,  Colonel 
D.  D.  Tompkins,  Assistant  Quartermaster-Gen- 


42  REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

eral,  Major  Eaton,  Commissary  of  Subsistence, 
and  Major  Thornton,  of  Ordnance,  all  capable, 
efficient,  and  prompt  in  the  discharge  of  every 
duty  required  of  them,  and  under  my  orders  per 
formed  the  duties  assigned  to  Mr.  Cummings. 
The  railroads  to  Washington  could  not  be  used 
for  the  transportation  of  troops  or  supplies,  owing 
to  the  destruction  of  bridges,  etc.,  by  rebels  from 
Baltimore  ;  hence  they  were  sent  by  way  of  the 
Potomac  and  Chesapeake  Bay.  I  ordered  Col 
onel  Tompkins  to  send  two  vessels  to  ply  between 
Perrysville  and  Annapolis,  for  the  purpose  of 
transporting  troops  and  supplies  to  the  latter 
place  as  soon  as  it  could  be  done  with  safety. 
Arrangements  accordingly  were  made  with  the 
railroad  companies,  and  General  Patterson  sent 
troops  to  Perrysville  to  guard  that  place.  There 
fore,  as  it  appears  to  me,  I  in  no  wise  interfered 
with  any  arrangements  made  by  Secretary  Cam 
eron  with  Mr.  Cummings.  On  the  contrary,  I 
think  all  that  he  expected  of  the  latter  gentleman 
was  more  than  anticipated  by  the  measures  adopt 
ed  under  my  orders.  Why  should  Mr.  Cummings 
be  employed  when  we  had  staff-officers  to  perform 
the  duties  required  of  him  ? 

In  thus  presenting  my  views  in  regard  to  my 
conduct  while  in  connection  with  the  Union  De 
fence  Committee,  and  in  relation  to  the  orders  of 
Lieutenant-General  Scott  and  Secretary  Cameron, 
I  would  not  be  understood  to  complain  of  being 
sent  to  my  headquarters  at  Troy,  or  of  not  being 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  43 

ordered  into  the  field  to  battle  against  the  traitors 
of  the  Union. 

The  President  having  the  power,  has,  of  course, 
the  right  to  judge  of  the  fitness  of  officers  for 
command,  whether  for  the  field  or  any  other  mili 
tary  position.  But  I  think  I  have  just  cause  to 
complain  of  beirfg  placed  in  the  position  I  find 
myself,  and  for  no  other  reason  than  1  made  efforts 
and  furnished  means  to  save  the  Federal  Capital. 
In  ordering  arms  and  ammunition  to  be  issued  to 
various  Governors,  I  did  no  more,  and  for  the 
same  reasons,  than  what  the  President  lias  done. 
It  was  a  "  necessity"  demanded  by  the  whole  peo 
ple  of  the  North,  arising  from  the  perilous  state 
of  the  countrv,  all  communication  with  Washing 
ton  being  closed. 

Therefore  is  it  just  that  I  should  be  confined  at 
my  headquarters,  when  the  Union  Defence  Com 
mittee,  with  whom  I  was  associated  and  who  ap 
probated  my  conduct  in  the  most  exalted  terms, 
receive  more  than  the  thanks  of  the  administra 
tion,  without  allusion  to  myself,  for  the  forces 
that  arrived  so  opportunely  at  the  capital  ;  that 
civilians  should  be  appointed  to  take  rank  over 
me  in  the  army,  and  that  I  should  be  refused  a 
command,  although  named  for  one — as  I  am  in 
formed — by  Lieutenant-General  Scott? 

Permit  me  to  ask,  is  such  loyalty  and  devo 
tion  to  country  to  be  spurned  by  this  adminis 
tration  ?  I  feel  that  the  people  of  the  North  will 
not  sanction  such  conduct,  nor  will  thev  ever 


44  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

abandon  their  best  and  devoted  friend,  who  has 
never  faltered  in  vindicating  their  interests,  honor, 
or  welfare. 

Your  friend, 

JOHN  E.  WOOL. 

To  Colonel  Lc  Grand  B,  Cannon,  Burlington,   Vt. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

WITH    GENERAL    WOOL    IN     THE    DEPARTMENT    OF 
VIRGINIA. 

THE  people  of  the  East  and  West  greatly  appre 
ciated  General  Wool's  valuable  work  in  New  York 
City  in  behalf  of  the  Union  cause,  and  were  very 
indignant  that  he  should  have  been  relieved  from 
active  duty.  The  general  indignation  was  very 
prominently  and  powerfully  expressed,  .and  so 
great  was  the  pressure  of  public  opinion  upon  the 
administration,  that  General  Wool  was  very 
shortly  afterward  called  again  into  active  service, 
and  on  August  I7th,  1861,  he  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  the  Department  of  Virginia,  with 
headquarters  at  Fort  Monroe.  This  was  practi 
cally  the  most  important  command  in  the  country. 
Fort  Monroe  was  not  only  the  greatest  fortress, 
but  it  was^NMtovriA^  the  key  to  the  entire  South 
ern  coast. 

In  the  mean  time  the  staff  of  the  army  had  be- 


46  REMINISCENCES   OF  THE    REBELLION. 

come  greatly  reduced  through  the  resignation  of 
many  officers  who  went  over  to  take  service  in 
the  forces  of  the  Confederacy.  It  was  a  prime 
necessity  that  the  staff  be  brought  up  to  its  proper 
strength  and  standard,  and  an  act  designed  to 
accomplish  this  was  one  of  the  first  military  meas 
ures  adopted  at  the  extra,  session  of  Congress. 
The  bill  provided  that  the  staff  of  the  army  should 
be  increased  by  the  appointment  of  officers  nomi 
nated  by  Major-Generals  Scott  and  Wool,  with  the 
approval  of  the  President  and  Senate. 

On  assuming  command  of  the  Department  of 
Virginia  General  Wool  at  once  nominated  me  as 
a  staff-officer,  with  the  rank  of  Major  ;  and  also 
nominated  Mr.  Alexander  Hamilton,  with  the 
rank  of  Major,  and  Mr.  William  Jay,  with  the 
rank  of  Captain,  with  orders  to  report  to  him  im 
mediately  at  Fort  Monroe.  I  reported  to  General 
Wool  at  once,  and  was  assigned  as  his  confidential 
aide  and  Chief  of  Staff. 

Immediately  after  the  secession  of  Virginia 
great  numbers  of  fugitive  slaves  escaped  and  took 
refuge  within  our  lines  at  Fort  Monroe.  There 
was  great  apprehension  among  the  people  of  the 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION.  47 

North  that  they  would  be  overrun  with  negroes 
as  a  result  of  a  war.  The  Federal  Government 
had  refused  to  take  any  decided  action  with  refer 
ence  to  the  fugitive  slaves,  and  had  endeavored 
to  take  a  stand  amounting  to  non-interference  with 
the  existing  regime.  It  evinced  a  great  timidity 
about  interfering  in  any  way  with  the  slave  ques 
tion.  It  had  rebuked  General  Fremont,  in  the 
State  of  Missouri,  for  protecting  fugitives,  and 
also  General  Hunter,  in  South  Carolina,  for  pro 
posing  to  make  use  of  the  fugitive  negroes.  So 
sensitive  was  the  Government  about  meddling 
with  the  negro  in  any  way,  that  no  less  than  two 
hundred  and  fifty  stevedores  were  sent  from  New 
York  and  the  East  to  Fort  Monroe  to  unload  our 
transports  and  to  do  other  such  civil  work,  at  a 
cost  of  two  dollars  and  a  half  a  day  each  and 
rations,  while  there  were  hundreds  of  able-bodied 
negroes  sheltering  in  our  lines  and  living  in  idle 
ness  at  the  public  expense.  The  inpouring  of 
fugitive  slaves  into  our  lines  increased  to  such  an 
extent  that  repeated  requests  were  made  to  Wash 
ington  for  instructions  as  to  what  should  be  done 
with  them.  It  would  have  been  disastrous  to 


48  REMINISCENCES   OF  THE    REBELLION. 

have  repelled  them  from  coming  into  our  lines. 
The  War  Department  refused  to  give  any  instruc 
tions,  but,  on  the  contrary,  adopted  a  policy  which 
seemed  fatal  in  its  bearings.  The  following  inci 
dent  will  illustrate  the  situation. 

An  Illinois  regiment,  stationed  in  Maryland, 
was  transferred  to  our  department.  General  Dix 
was  in  command  of  the  District  of  Maryland.  A 
complaint  was  made  by  a  loyal  slaveholder  that 
one  of  his  slaves,  a  woman,  had  been  abducted  by 
this  regiment  and  carried  off  to  Fort  Monroe. 
General  Dix  made  a  report  of  the  matter  to  Gen 
eral  Wool  by  the  slaveholder,  and  stated  that  it 
was  highly  important  that  the  slave  should  be 
surrendered  to  her  owner.  This  was  the  first 
case  of  the  kind  that  had  arisen,  and  it  tended  to 
place  General  Wool  in  the  position  of  surrender 
ing  the  first  fugitive  slave.  General  Wool  ad 
dressed  a  spirited  reply  to  General  Dix,  saying 
that  it  was  no  part  of  his  duty  to  find  fugitive 
slaves  and  surrender  them  to  their  masters  ;  and, 
furthermore,  suggesting  that  General  Dix  would 
have  all  he  could  do  to  perfect  discipline  and  effi 
ciency  in  his  own  command,  without  undertak- 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  49 

ing  to  demoralize  discipline  in  another  depart 
ment. 

General  Dix  complained  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  Mr.  Simon  Cameron,  saying-  it  was  of  the 
last  importance  that  the  loyal  people  of  Maryland 
who  owned  slaves  should  be  protected  in  their 
property.  He  submitted  the  correspondence  with 
General  Wool,  and  suggested  that  instructions 
should  be  given  from  the  War  Department  to 
General  Wool  calling  for  the  surrender  of  the 
slave  in  question.  In  the  course  of  a  week  the 
owner  of  the  woman  again  came  to  Fort  Monroe 
with  an  order  from  the  Secretary  of  War.  The 
communication  stated  that  it  was  alleged  this 
woman  had  been  carried  off  by  the  officers  of  the 
Illinois  regiment,  and  was  held  for  purposes  of 
prostitution.  The  Secretary  ordered  that  the 
woman  should  be  delivered  up  on  the  facts  being 
established. 

The  slave-owner  presented  the  order  to  General 
Wool  in  my  presence.  I  saw  at  once  by  the  ex 
pression  of  General  Wool's  face,  as  he  read  the 
order,  that  he  was  deeply  incensed,  and  that  there 
was  danger  of  an  explosion  of  ire  that  might  lead 


50  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

to  serious  consequences.  Tn  order  to  avert  the 
trouble  that  threatened,  I  interrupted  the  reading 
by  saying-  to  General  Wool  : 

"  General,  I  have  something  of  very  great  im 
portance  to  communicate  to  you  immediately  ; 
may  1  ask  that  this  gentleman  retire  for  a  few 
moments  ?" 

General  Wool  acquiesced,  and  when  the  slave 
owner  was  gone  I  suggested  to  the  General  that 
he  turn  the  matter  over  to  me,  and  I  would  under 
take  that  it  should  be  satisfactorily  settled,  and 
that  the  slave  should  not  be  surrendered.  Gen 
eral  4Wool  assented  to  this,  and  calling  the  slave 
owner  in,  tolcl  him  that  the  matter  had  been  turned 
over  to  me  and  was  altogether  in  my  hands.  I 
told  the  man  I  would  look  the  papers  over,  and 
asked  him  to  come  to  see  me  later  in  the  day. 

Then  I  sent  for  the  Colonel  of  the  Illinois  regi 
ment  which  was  accused  of  abducting  the  woman, 
explained  the  matter  to  him,  and  showed  him  the 
Secretary's  order. 

"  Now,  Colonel,"  I  said,  "  this  is  a  personal 
matter  with  you.  It  is  a  serious  reflection  on 
you  and  your  officers,  as  well  as  on  your  men  ; 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  51 

but,  first  of  all,  it  is  a  reflection  on  yourself,  and 
you  see  the  inference  that  must  be  drawn  if  this 
man's  statement  is  established.  I  leave  the  matter 
in  your  hands." 

The  Colonel  saw  the  point  at  once.  I  called  in 
the  slave-owner,  told  him  that  the  Secretary's 
order  would,  of  course,  be  promptly  obeyed.  I 
endorsed  the  order  to  the  Colonel  of  the  regiment, 
instructing  him  to  investigate  the  matter,  and  if 
the  facts  were  proven  as  alleged,  to  deliver  up  the 
woman  to  her  owner,  and  then  sent  the  man  with 
the  order  to  see  and  settle  with  the  Colonel. 

When  the  slave-owner  went  over  to  the  Illinois 
regiment  he  ran  into  a  hornet's  nest.  The  Col 
onel  received  him,  read  the  order,  the  statement 
of  alleged  facts,  and  my  endorsement,  and  then 
broke  out  in  indignant  denunciation.  He  told  the 
owner  that  his  statement  of  immorality  in  the 
regiment  was  a  personal  insult  to  himself,  as  head 
of  the  regiment,  and  would  have  to  be  settled 
with  him  personally.  Then  he  sent  for. all  his 
officers  and  read  the  statement  and  order  to  them. 
They  received  it  as  he  had  done,  and  within  five 
minutes  the  astounded  slave-owner  had  a  dozen 


52  REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

challenges  on  his  hands.  He  had  no  actual  proof 
of  his  allegations,  of  course,  and  was  dreadfully 
frightened  at  the  turn  of  events.  He  tried  to 
withdraw  and  offered  every  apology,  and  ended 
by  writing  out  a  full  and  complete  withdrawal  of 
his  charges,  and  expressing  the  belief  that  he  was 
mistaken  and  that  the  woman  was  not  with  the 
regiment.  I  saw  the  man  next  morning  as  he 
went  aboard  the  boat  that  took  him  home,  and  he 
looked  as  though  he  had  been  sick  with  a  severe 
attack  of  cholera  morbus. 

Shortly  afterward  I  went  to  Washington  with 
despatches  and  saw  Thomas  L.  Scott,  First  As 
sistant  Secretary  of  War.  After  delivering  my 
despatches  Mr.  Scott  suddenly  asked  me  : 

'  Why  are  not  the  orders  of  the  department 
obeyed  by  General  Wool?" 

"  General  Wool  is  too  old  and  too  good  a  soldier 
ever  to  disobey  an  order,"  I  replied.  '  Besides," 
I  continued,  "  I  happen  to  be  cognizant  of  all 
orders  received  by  General  Wool  from  the  de 
partment,  and  I  do  not  know  of  any  that  have  not 
been  properly  obeyed." 
•  Secretary  Scott  recited  the  case  of  the  fugitive 


REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION.  53 


slave,  and  I  told  him  I  k«ppMw4  **kntw  every- 
thing  about  that  case,  and  explained  that  the  order 
from  the  Secretary  was  turned  over  to  the  Col 
onel  of  the  regiment  involved  and  the  matter  fully 
investigated,  and  that  the  slave-owner  had  made 
a  complete  withdrawal  of  the  charge.  Secretary 
Scott  said  he  understood  that  the  man  was  bullied 
and  coerced  into  making  the  withdrawal  ;  but 
the  matter  was  dropped. 

That  evening  1  dined  with  Secretary  of  State 
Seward,  and  I  explained  to  him  the  whole  affair, 
just  as  it  happened.  I  told  him  frankly  that  the 
United  States  Army  could  not  be  used  for  the 
purpose  of  hunting  down  and  returning  fugitive 
slaves,  and  that  a  repetition  of  such  an  order  as 
was  sent  to  General  Wool  would  cause  the  mutiny 
of  every  soldier  in  the  army. 

The  order  was  never  repeated,  and  the  War 
Department  withdrew  from  its  position  on  the 
matter  of  fugitive  slaves. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  EARLIEST  EMANCIPATION  AND  USE  OF  NEGROES 
IN  MILITARY  SERVICE. 

As  the  war  progressed  in  the  closing-  months  of 
1861  there  was  a  continually  increasing  number 
of  fugitive  slaves  coming  into  our  lines  at  Fort 
Monroe.  The  number  became  so  great  that  the 
fact  of  so  many  men,  women,  and  children  living 
in  idleness  in  close  contact  with  our  troops  exer 
cised  a  very  demoralizing  influence  on  both 
negroes  and  soldiers,  and  serious  difficulties  of 
morals  and  discipline  arose.  The  efficiency  of  the 
troops  was  in  great  danger  of  vital  impairment, 
and  the  situation  of  the  negroes  was  lamentable. 
The  Government  would  do  nothing  in  the  matter, 
standing  aloof  from  the  whole  question,  as  pre 
viously  related.  Under  these  circumstances  of 
great  embarrassment  General  Wool  decided  to 
institute  a  rigid  investigation  into  the  actual  con 
dition  of  affairs  and  the  causes,  with  a  view  of 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  55 

finding  some  solution  of  the  very  difficult  prob 
lem  of  what  to  do  with  the  fugitive  slaves. 

On  January  3Oth,  1862,  General  Wool  appointed 
Colonel  T.  J.  Cram  and  myself  a  commission  to 
inquire  into  this  matter  under  the  following  order  : 

HEADQUARTERS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  VIRGINIA, 

FORT  MONROE,  VA.,  January  30,  1862. 
General  Order  No,  5. 

I.  Colonel  T.  J.   Cram,   Inspector-General,  and 
Major  Le  Grand  B.   Cannon,  Aide  de-Camp,  are 
hereby  appointed  and  constituted  a  commission 
for  the  purpose  of  making  a  critical  examination 
of  the  condition  of  the  persons  known  as  vagrants 
or  "  contrabands,"  who  are  employed  in  this  de 
partment  under   Department  General  Order  No. 
34,   of  1861,  in  reference  to  their  pay,  clothing, 
subsistence,  medical  attendance,  shelter,  and  treat 
ment,  physical  and  moral. 

II.  Chiefs  of  the  several  departments,  their  sub 
ordinates  and  employes,  will  furnish  to  the  Com 
mission  such  reports  and  information  as  the  Com 
mission  may  require  to  enable  it  to  perform  the 
duties  imposed,  the  object  being  to  do  justice  to 
the  claims  of  humanity  in  the  proper  discharge  of 
the  grave  responsibility  thrust  upon  the  military 
authorities  of  this  department  in  consequence  of 
numerous  persons— men,   women,  and  children  — 
already  congregated  and  daily  increasing,  being 
abandoned  by  their  masters  or  having  fled  to  this 
military  command  for  protection  and  support. 


56  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

III.  The  Commissioners  will  also  examine  into 
the  condition  of  such  of  the  foregoing  specified 
class  of   persons  as  have  been  or  are  employed 
under  Department  Special  Order  No.  72,  of  1861, 
and    will    further    examine    whether   the   several 
chiefs  of  departments  have  a  sufficiency  or  an  ex 
cess  of  employes  or  laborers  to  enable  them  to 
discharge    with    proper   economy    and    efficiency 
and    despatch    their   respective    duties,    and    if   a 
greater  or  less  number  than  are  now  employed 
can  be  economically  employed   for  these  duties. 
It  having  been  reported  that  the  said  class  of  per 
sons  known  as  vagrants  or  "  contrabands"   have 
not  been  properly   treated  in  all  cases  by  those 
having  them  in  charge,  the  Commissioners  cannot 
be  too  rigid  in  its  examination  in  order  that  jus 
tice  may  be  done  to  them  as  well  as  to  the  public 
service. 

IV.  The  result  of  the  investigations  will  be  re 
ported  by  the  Commissioners  to  these  headquar 
ters  as  early  as  practicable,  with  such  suggestions 
as  the  Commissioners  may  deem  proper  for  the 
improvement  of  these  persons,  and  the  Commis 
sion  is  authorized  to  employ  such  clerical  assist 
ance  as  it  may  need  to  be  detailed  from  this  com 
mand. 

By  command  of  Major-General  Wool. 
(Signed)  WILLIAM  D.  WIIIPPLE, 

Assistant  Adjutant-  General. 

Major  William  P.  Jones,  A.D.C.,  was  appointed 
a  member  of  the  Commission  a  few  days  later. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  57 

Special  Order  No.  72  and  General  Order  No. 
34,  referred  to  in  the  order  appointing1  the  Com 
mission,  were  issued  some  three  months  previous, 
in  an  effort  to  prevent  the  irretrievable  vagrancy 
of  the  fugitive  negroes  by  compelling  them  to  do 
whatever  work  was  within  their  scope,  and  so  as 
far  as  possible  support  themselves. 

Special  Order  No.  72  provided  that  all  colored 
persons  known  as  "  contrabands,"  employed  as 
servants  by*  officers  or  others  at  Fort  Monroe, 
should  be  furnished  with  their  subsistence  and  at 
least  eight  dollars  per  month  for  males  and  four 
dollars  for  females.  So  much  of  this  money  as 
might  be  needed  for  their  clothing  was  to  be  ap 
plied  for  that  purpose,  and  the  remainder  to  be 
paid  into  the  hands  of  the  Chiel  Quartermaster  to 
create  a  fund  for  the  support  of  those  contrabands 
unable  to  work  for  their  own  support. 

General  Order  No.  34  designated  the  pay  and 
allowance  to  be  made  to  contrabands  at  work  in 
the  military  departments  at  Fort  Monroe,  as 
laborers  and  the  like.  Able-bodied  negro  men  so 
employed  were  to  be  allowed  ten  dollars  a  month, 
and  negro  boys  were  to  be  allowed  five  dollars  a 


58  REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

month  ;  in  both  cases  witH  one  ration  and  neces 
sary  clothing.  But  this  money  was  not  to  be  paid 
to  the  negroes  earning  it,  but  was  to  be  turned 
over  to  the  Quartermaster  to  be  added  to  the  fund 
mentioned  above  for  the  support  of  the  women 
and  children  and  those  other  negroes  unable  to 
work.  As  an  incentive  to  good  behavior,  how 
ever,  each  able-bodied  negro  was  allowed  two 
dollars  a  month,  and  each  negro  boy  one  dollar  a 
month  for  their  own  personal  use. 

But  while  the  intent  and  purpose  of  these  or 
ders,  of  preventing  the  negroes  from  becoming 
irredeemable  vagrants  and  a  complete  public 
charge,  was  to  some  extent  achieved,  yet,  as  the 
wages  of  their  labor  was  in  no  way  under  their 
own  control,  the  condition  of  the  contrabands  was 
practically  the  same  as  when  in  slavery.  Further, 
the  investigations  of  the  Commission  showed  that 
they  did  not,  to  any  great  extent,  receive  even 
the  slight  personal  and  individual  reward  and  in 
centive  of  the  one  or  two  dollars  a  month  pro 
vided  in  the  order. 

The  Commission,  after  a  most  searching  and 
thorough  investigation,  made  its  report  on  March 


REMINISCENCES  OF  THE   REBELLION.  59 

2oth,  1862.  The  report  covered  the  whole  sub 
ject  minutely,  and  entered  into  and  explained 
every  detail  of  the  condition  and  treatment  of  the 
fugitive  negroes.  The  Commissioners  found  that 
the  negroes  were  suffering  from  many  abuses, 
partly  due  to  individual  culpability,  but  mainly 
to  the  unfortunate  system,  or  rather  lack  of  sys 
tem,  in  dealing  with  them,  to  the  condition  natu 
rally  resulting  from  the  entirely  new  character  of 
the  situation  by  which  the  military  command  was 
confronted,  and  the  attitude  of  the  administration 
which  had  practically  forbidden  any  effort  at 
solving  the  problem. 

It  was  at  this  fundamental  difficulty,  the  crux 
of  the  whole  situation,  that  the  chief  efforts  of  the 
Commission  were  directed,  in  trying  to  devise  a 
plan  by  which  "  to  do  justice  to  the  claims  of  hu 
manity  in  the  proper  discharge  of  the  grave  re 
sponsibility  thrust  upon  the  military  authorities 
of  this  department."  The  conclusions  reached 
and  the  suggestions  offered  by  the  Commissioners 
were  stated  in  the  closing  clauses  of  the  report  as 
follows  : 


60        REMINISCENCES  OF  THE  REBELLION. 

11  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  THEIR 
CONDITION. — Your  Commission,  after  a  careful 
review  of  the  reports  and  suggestions  accompany 
ing  them,  and  a  personal  examination  of  the  con 
dition  of  the  people,  also  after  an  examination  of 
the  laws  of  Congress,  together  with  the  question 
of  military  necessity,  are  forced  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  practical  working  of  the  system  inaugu 
rated  is  highly  objectionable,  mainly  wrong,  and 
now  entirely  unnecessary. 

"  I.  Want  of  Power.  —  Without  discussing  the 
laws  of  Congress  bearing  on  this  subject,  the 
question  of  State  rights  or  anything  covering  the 
question  of  title — which  are  matters  entirely  to  be 
determined  by  civil  power — though  all  of  which 
might,  with  propriety,  be  considered,  if  necessary, 
even  by  a  military  commission  ;  your  Commission 
believe  there  is  want  of  authority  in  Government 
to  hold  these  people  and  compel  them  to  be  re 
cipients  of  its  charity. 

"  2.  Military  Necessity. — We  suppose  it  cannot 
be  urged  as  a  military  necessity  to  retain  them, 
for  identically  the  same  voluntary  labor  can  be 
obtained  at  as  cheap  or  a  less  rate.  It  will  hardly 
be  denied  that  more  is  not  performed  by  a  person 
who  has  a  voice  in  the  wages  of  his  labor  than  one 
who  has  not  ;  besides,  the  military  necessity  could 
not  extend  to  the  women  and  children,  and  those 
who  are  sick  and  infirm.  The  position  of  all 
would  be  one  of  quasi-slavery,  without  being 
compelled  to  do  their  full  work. 

"  But  admitting  the  military  necessity  of  using 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION.  6l 

those  whose  labor  the  military  power  requires, 
where  is  the  authority  for  fixing  a  price  by  which 
others  may  employ  them,  using  the  wages  of  such 
labor  to  support  those  who  do  not  or  cannot  sup 
port  themselves  ? 

"  The  plan  of  giving  the  same  pay  to  all  alike  is 
discouraging  to  the  skilful,  honest,  industrious 
laborer,  who  fully  earns  his  wages,  while  it  only 
confirms  the  lazy  and  shiftless  in  their  laziness. 
There  is  no  motive  for  the  industrious  to  labor 
with  diligence  in  his  regularly  appointed  task. 
No  matter  how  great  their  industry  or  perfect 
their  skill,  they  can  gain  no  more  than  the  sloth 
ful  or  unskilful  ;  and  if  they  are  not  absolute 
drones,  they  get  as  much  as  if  they  gave  their 
best  exertions  to  the  task.  There  is  no  incentive 
to  ambition,  to  improve  themselves  as  good  work 
men.  Is  it  just  to  make  the  industrious  and  single 
work  to  accommodate  a  fund  to  support  the  lazy 
man's  family  ?  It  is  no  argument  against  these 
people's  ability  to  provide  for  themselves,  that 
under  their  discouragements  they  do  not  show  an 
activity  as  great  as  the  white  man  under  the  in 
centive  of  proportional  remuneration  ;  for  if  white 
men  were  placed  in  the  same  situation,  who  can 
prove  the  result  would  not  be  the  same  ? 

4  It  is  destructive  to  the  energies  of  an  individ 
ual  or  a  people  to  assure  them  of  charity  when 
ever  they  apprehend  difficulty.  Witness  the 
effect  of  Irish  soup  houses  and  all  socialistic  insti 
tutions.  Better  by  far  to  let  one  here  and  there 
fail  by  the  wayside  than  to  encourage  the  hope 


62  REMINISCENCES   OK   THE   REBELLION. 

that  the  Herculean  arm  of  the  nation  is  to  be 
wielded  in  clearing  their  path. 

"  3.  The  demand  for  Government  labor  at  this 
post  is  limited,  but  the  Government  would  have, 
as  its  army  advances,  almost  no  limit  to  the  de 
mands  on  its  charity.  The  system  is  therefore 
incapable  of  expansion,  and  cannot,  from  its  very 
expensiveness  to  Government,  be  carried  on  with 
a  much  larger  number.  Is  it  well  to  establish  a 
precedent  for  the  benefit  of  an  inferior  race  which 
has  always  been  refused,  and  cannot  be  granted, 
to  a  superior  race  ?  and  thus  to  establish  a  system 
that  would  be  quoted  against  the  Government  by 
all  parties— by  its  foes  for  its  failure,  by  its  friends 
for  its  expense,  and  by  the  recipients  of  its  charity 
because  it  was  not  continued,  and  taught  them  to 
rely  on  a  hope  which  could  not  be  realized. 

"  As  a  verification  of  the  force  of  our  argument, 
reference  is  made  to  the  tabular  statement  under 
head  VII.,  from  which  it  will  be  found  that  for 
the  months  of  November  and  December  the  num 
ber  of  rations  issued  to  women  and  children  and 
infirm  brought  the  cost  of  subsistence  on  those 
who  labored  to  thirty-three  and  one  half  cents  per 
capita  per  day,  and  in  the  months  of  January  and 
February,  when,  it  will  be  recollected,  these 
issues  to  women  and  children  were  very  largely 
suspended,  the  cost  of  subsistence  on  those  who 
labored,  was  twenty  cents  per  capita  per  day. 
This  decreased  cost  of  labor  is  owing  entirely  to 
a  curtailment  of  this  charity,  which  compelled 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  63 

these  people  to  rely  on  their  own  exertions,  and 
yet  no  distress  has  occurred  in  consequence. 

"  4.  Your  Commission  are  assured  by  educated 
and  philanthropic  gentlemen  that  there  is  no 
necessity  for  any  governmental  charity  to  these 
people  ;  that  the  societies  at  the  North  will  under 
take  to  provide  for  all  their  proper  wants  in  con 
nection  with  their  moral  and  intellectual  culture. 
We  earnestly  recommend  that  it  be  left,  as  gov 
ernments  leave  ail  similar  demands,  to  the  intelli 
gence  and  generosity  of  the  people.  The  Com 
mission  also  recommend,  as  suggested  under  head 
VI.,  the  use  of  the  contrabands'  quarters,  near  the 
fort,  to  be  granted  under  the  direction  of  a  person 
who  may  be  appointed  as  the  superintendent,  for 
daily  schools  for  children  and  evening  schools  for 
adults  and  for  Divine  service  on  Sundays,  pro 
viding  that  the  hours  selected  for  these  purposes 
shall  not  interfere  with  messing  and  hours  of  labor 
for  the  men,  and  always  subject  to  the  military 
authorities.  They  also  recommend,  as  indicated 
in  VI.,  that  a  site  be  granted  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  a  school-house  and  chapel,  providing 
that  all  structures  erected  for  them  be  built  and 
sustained  without  expense  to-  the  Government, 
and  to  be  removed  whenever  the  military  authori 
ties  require,  without  claim  on  the  Government 
for  such  removal  ;  that  all  blacks  or  contrabands 
not  in  the  employ  of  the  Government,  of  officers, 
or  others  connected  with  the  military  service  at 
the  fort  be  removed — if  thev  remain  in  this  vicin- 


64  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

ity — beyond  Mill  Creek  ;  that  no  more  buildings 
be  erected  at  the  Government  expense,  except  for 
the  shelter  of  those  who  are  in  Government  ser 
vice  ;  that  the  wages  of  their  labor  be  paid  to 
these  people  for  their  own  use  and  enjoyment  ; 
prices  to  be  determined  by  individual  skill,  indus 
try,  and  ability,  and  regulated  by  supply  and  de 
mand,  or  by  any  other  standard  system  which 
governs  the  departments  of  the  army  ;  as  part  of 
the  compensation  that  each  laborer  receives  one 
ration  per  day  and  quarters  in  all  respects  similar 
to  the  usage  heretofore  obtaining  with,  white  or 
black  free  labor. 

'  5.  The  Commission  would  earnestly  recom 
mend  the  appointment  by  Government  or  the 
Commanding  General  of  a  person,  as  already  in 
dicated,  always  subordinate  to  the  military  au 
thorities,  though  unconnected  with  the  military 
service,  a  man  of  elevated  moral  character,  high, 
social  position  and  intelligence,  who  would  con 
sent  to  serve  from  motives  of  philanthropy — such 
a  person  would  be  most  fit — and  recommend  that 
the  military  authorities  protect  him  in  all  proper 
efforts  to  improve  these  people  physically,  morally, 
and  religiously,  to  inculcate  the  virtues  indispensa 
ble  to  this  end,  such  as  honesty,  industry,  temper 
ance,  economy,  patience,  and  obedience  to  all 
rightful  authority,  leaving  out  of  the  question 
their  social  and  political  rights,  believing  that 
these  questions  belong  more  properly  to  the  Gov 
ernment. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  65 

"  6.  Your  Commission  would  likewise  urgently 
recommend  the  appointment  by  the  proper  au 
thority  of  a  Provost  Judge,  who,  clothed  with 
civil  power  and  military  authority,  could  protect 
these  ignorant  people  from  being  abused  in  their 
persons  and  enforce  the  recovery,  from  all  who 
employ  them,  of  their  just  dues. 

"  This  officer  is  also  indispensably  necessary  in 
this  military  department,  in  the  absence  of  all  civil 
law,  to  protect  loyal  citizens  from  continual 
marauding  by  the  soldiers  and  negroes.  All 
officers,  soldiers,  and  attaches  of  the  army  who 
have  had  the  services  of  these  people  should  be 
compelled  to  pay  them  the  wages  of  their  labor 
by  virtue  of  Special  Order  No.  72. 

"  7.  Your  Commission  are  aware  that  their 
suggested  reforms  conflict  in  a  considerable  degree 
with  the  present  system,  which  was  doubtless  the 
plan  of  a  benevolent  and  patriotic  heart,  and  per 
haps  the  best  that  could  be  devised  for  the  time 
being.  It  was  a  new  thing  to  all  beset  with 
difficulties  and  antagonisms  on  all  sides,  but, 
like  all  systems,  requiring  practical  results  to 
develop  its  weak  points  and  time  to  remedy  its 
errors. 

'  In  conclusion  your  Commission  are  conscious 
of  having  taken  much  time  in  the  examination  of 
this  most  delicate  but  interesting  question,  but  feel 
a  consciousness  that  they  have  founded  their 
opinions  entirely  upon  facts  presented. 

'  We,   the  undersigned  Commission,   have  the 


66  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

honor  to  be,  with  the  highest  consideration,  your 
most  obedient  servants, 
"  T.  J.  CRAM, 

Colonel  Topographical  Engineers, 

Inspector -General,  and  A.D.  C. 

"  LE  GRAND  B.  CANNON, 

Colonel  U.S.A.  and  A.D.C. 
"  WILLIAM  P.  JONES, 

Major  U.S.A.,  A.D.C.,  and 

Provost  Marshal.'' 

This  report  was  drawn  by  myself,  and  it  re 
quired  no  little  effort  to  have  my  associates  in  the 
Commission  sign  it.  Although  naturally  admit 
ting  all  the  facts  obtained  and  the  conclusions 
reached,  they  hesitated  about  signing  the  report 
to  the  Commanding  General,  influenced  no  doubt 
by  a  consideration  of  the  rebuke  which  the  ad 
ministration  had  visited  upon  other  officers  under 
similar  circumstances. 

General  Wool  hesitated  about  adopting  the  re 
port  and  issuing  the  orders  it  called  for,  because 
of  the  experience  of  General  Fremont  and  General 
Hunter,  whose  attempts  to  deal  practically  with 
this  question  had  not  been  supported  by  the  Gov 
ernment,  but,  on  the  contrary,  had  been  rebuked. 

While  the  approval  of  this  report  by  General 


REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION.  67 

Wool  was  in  abeyance  the  late  William  E.  Dodge 
and  the  late  John  Jay  came  to  Fort  Monroe  to  see 
their  sons,  who  were  in  the  service.  These  gen 
tlemen  were  very  prominent  in  public  life,  and 
possessed  in  a  high  degree  the  confidence  of  the 
people  of  the  North,  with  whom  they  had  de 
servedly  great  influence.  They  held  different 
views  of  slavery,  Mr.  Dodge  being  an  emancipa 
tionist  and  Mr.  Jay  an  abolitionist,  but  both  were 
men  of  intense  loyalty. 

It  occurred  to  me  to  take  the  responsibility  of 
confidentially  reading  the  report  to  these  two 
gentlemen,  and  asking  their  views  as  to  how  it 
would  be  received  by  the  North  and  by  the  ad 
ministration.  I  felt  that  if  they  approved  of  this 
line  of  policy  their  influence  would  be  great  with 
the  administration  in  securing  the  latter's  endorse 
ment  for  it.  I  took  Mr.  Dodge  up  to  my  room 
and  read  the  report  to  him,  enjoining  upon  him 
profound  secrecy.  After  reading  it  to  him  I  also 
took  Mr.  Jay  into  my  confidence,  and  read  the  re 
port  to  him  also.  Both  of  these  gentlemen,  neither 
knowing  that  the  other  had  seen  the  report,  en 
dorsed  it  in  most  enthusiastic  terms,  saying  they 


68  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

believed  that  it  would  solve  the  whole  question  of 
the  negro's  status.  I  then  said  to  these  gentle 
men  : 

'  Your  influence  would  be  very  great  in  getting 
General  Wool  to  sign  this  report,  and  as  you  are 
to  dine  with  us  this  evening,  I  believe  that  I  can 
induce  General  Wool  to  ask  you  to  hear  this  re 
port  read  and  to  get  your  views  on  it." 

At  the  close  of  the  dinner  at  headquarters  that 
evening  I  went  quietly  round  to  General  Wool 
and  made  the  suggestion,  that  these  two  gentle 
men  were  men  of  such  position  that  their  views 
on  the  problem  before  us  and  our  suggested  solu 
tion  would  be  very  valuable,  and  asked  him  what 
he  thought  of  confidentially  reading  the  report  of 
the  Commission  to  them.  The  General  immedi 
ately  assented  to  my  proposition.  In  a  few  mo 
ments  he  ordered  the  servants  from  the  room, 
and  then  requested  me  to  get  the  report,  explain 
ing  to  Mr.  Dodge  and  Mr.  Jay  that  he  wanted  to 
have  it  read  to  them  in  order  to  get  their  views 
about  it. 

During  the  reading  Mr.  Dodge  and  Mr.  Jay 
made  frequent  expressions  of  earnest  approval, 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  69 

and  at  the  close  both  gentlemen,  in  a  most  em 
phatic  and  enthusiastic  manner,  urged  General 
Wool  to  immediately  approve  it,  for,  they  said, 
it  would  add  more  to  his  reputation  than  all  of  his 
military  record,  for  he  would  have  solved  this 
great  question  which  the  administration  had  ut 
terly  failed  to  do.  General  Wool  had  explained 
to  them,  as  of  course  they  very  well  knew,  that 
other  officers  had  not  been  supported  in  their 
efforts  to  deal  with  the  matter.  But  Mr.  Dodge 
and  Mr.  Jay  were  so  emphatic  in  their  approval 
of  the  course  suggested  in  our  report,  that  Gen 
eral  Wool  finally  said  : 

"  Well,  gentlemen,  I  will  approve  this  report 
to-night  on  one  condition,  and  that  is,  that  you 
will  go  with  my  Chief  of  Staff,  Colonel  Cannon, 
to  the  War  Office  with  this  report,  and  that  you 
will  induce  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  to  sanction  it  ;  other 
wise  I  cannot  sign  it." 

Both  gentlemen  replied  :  '  We  will  go,  and 
will  do  as  you  desire  with  the  greatest  pleasure." 

1  went  up  to  Washington  the  next  evening,  ac 
companied  by  Mr.  Dodge  and  Mr.  Jay.  We  went 


70  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

together  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  He  read  the 
report  carefully,  and  turning  to  these  two  gentle 
men  asked  : 

'  What  does  General  Wool  want  ?" 

"  He  wants  your  approval  of  this  report,"  they 
replied. 

The  Secretary  approved  the  report. 

General  Wool  immediately  issued  to  the  depart 
ment  the  following  order,  which  denned  the  status 
of  the  negro,  whether  in  military  or  civil  service, 
and  which  practically,  and  in  direct,  immediate 
effect,  emancipated  the  negroes  sheltered  in  our 
lines  at  Fort  Monroe. 

This  was  more  than  nine  months  previous  to  the 
issuing  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  by 
President  Lincoln,  and  was  a  general  order  of 
emancipation  without  condition. 

HEADQUARTERS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  VIRGINIA, 
FORT  MONROE,  VA.,  March  18,  1862. 

General  Order  No.  22. 

The  Chiefs  oj  the  Engineers,  Ordnance,  Medical, 
Subsistence,  and  Quartermasters  departments 
employing  vagrants  or  persons  known  as' 'con 
trabands,"  by  virtue  of  General  Order  No.  34, 
also  all  officers,  sutlers,  citizens,  and  others  em 
ploying  them  by  virtue  of  Special  Order  No.  72, 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE   REBELLION.  /I 

will  forthwith  report  the  names  of  such  vagrants 
or  contrabands,  together  with  the  names  of  any 
heretofore  employed  by  them,  to  Mr.  Charles  B. 
Wilder,  who  has  been  appointed  to  superintend 
all  things  relating  to  and  necessary  to  their  wel 
fare  and  condition. 

The  Chiefs  of  the  several  departments  will  fur 
nish  to  the  Superintendent,  Mr.  Wilder,  a  state 
ment  of  the  amounts  paid  and  the  amounts  re 
maining  due  to  each  person  so  employed  by  them 
under  the  following  heads — viz.  : 

1.  Amounts  earned  by  each. 

2.  Amounts  paid  in  clothing  to  each. 

3.  Amounts  paid  in  money  to  each. 

4.  Amounts  earned  for  extra  labor  by  each. 

5.  Amounts  paid  in  money  for  extra  labor  to 
each. 

6.  Amounts  due  for  extra  labor  to  each. 

7.  Gross  amounts  due   for  monthly  and   extra 
labor  to  March  I5th,  1862,  inclusive. 

In  addition  to  which  a  return  will  be  made  em 
bracing  all  labor  performed  by  contrabands  in  the 
several  departments  anterior  to  Special  Order 
No.  72  and  General  Order  No.  34,  and  the 
amounts,  if  any,  paid  to  them  during  the  same. 

Special  Order  No.  72  and  General  Order  No. 
34  are  hereby  revoked,  to  take  effect  on  and  after 
March  i5th,  1862.  Hereafter  all  wages  earned 
by  persons  of  African  blood  in  this  department 
will  be  paid  to  them  for  their  own  use  and  sup 
port,  under  such  regulations  as  may  be  devised 
by  the  Superintendent,  prices  to  be  determined 


72  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

by  individual  skill,  industry,  and  ability,  and  regu 
lated  by  the  standard  usual  in  such  cases  which 
may  govern  the  several  departments  of  the  army 
at  or  near  Fort  Monroe.  As  a  part  of  the  com 
pensation  each  laborer  will  receive  one  ration  per 
day  and  quarters  until  otherwise  ordered. 

The  fund  raised  by  Special  Order  No.  72  and 
General  Order  No.  34,  in  the  hands  of  Captain 
Talmadge  or  any  other  person,  for  the  support  of 
the  poor  and  needy  of  the  so-called  "  contra 
bands,"  will  be  used  for  that  purpose,  or  any 
other  purpose  which  may  be  necessary  for  their 
benefit  or  comfort,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Superintendent,  with  discretionary  powers,  but 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  military  commander 
of  the  department. 

(Signed)  JOHN  E.  WOOL, 

Major-  General. 

Mr.  Charles  B.  Wilder,  who  was  appointed  in 
the  foregoing  order  as  Superintendent  of  the 
negroes,  was  an  abolitionist  and  a  philanthropist, 
who  had  come  down  to  Fort  Monroe  to  look  into 
the  condition  of  the  fugitive  slaves.  He  was  in 
duced  to  accept  this  position,  to  take  full  charge 
and  have  the  entire  care  of  the  negroes,  and  was 
made  Quartermaster,  with  the  rank  of  Captain. 

The  immediate  result  of  the  order  adopted 
through  our  report  was  the  dismissal  of  all  the 


<J 

fj  M 

O     Q 

E  5 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  73 

white  stevedores  at  Fort  Monroe.  About  three 
hundred  and  fifty  negroes,  mostly  field  hands, 
were  detailed  to  take  the  place  of  the  stevedores 
and  to  do  other  civil  work  about  the  post. 

Two  years  after  the  inauguration  of  this  new 
regime  I  received  the  following  letter  from  Cap 
tain  Wilder  : 

FORT  MONROE,  VA.,  March  14,  1864. 
Colonel  Cannon  : 

DEAR  SIR  :  Having  twice  failed  to  see  you  when 
passing  through  New  York,  I  take  this  method 
of  expressing  to  you  my  most  sincere  thanks  for 
the  stand  you  so  successfully  took  and  carried 
through  in  the  report  made  to  General  Wool,  and 
which  was  approved  by  him,  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  Congress,  and  made  the  basis  of  nearly 
all  our  operations  from  that  day  to  this  in  regard 
to  the  condition  and  rights  of  the  colored  people 
in  this  department.  The  position  you  took  was 
in  advance  of  public  sentiment  and  the  age,  and  is 
now  being  acted  upon  "  without  let  or  hindrance." 
Under  General  Butler  we  are  getting  on  very 
successfully.  All  opposers  of  any  kind  have  been 
removed.  We  have  had  several  investigating 
committees  from  Washington  and  elsewhere,  and 
all  agree  that,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of 
enemies,  the  condition  of  the  contrabands  here  is 
better  than  in  any  other  department  within  their 
knowledge.  The  army  has  taken  off  nearly  all 


74  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

our  able-bodied  men,  and  all  others  we  are  get 
ting  on  to  rebel  plantations,  and  soon  expect  they 
will  become  self-supporting. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Colonel, 
Yours  very  truly, 

C.  B.  WILDER, 

Captain  and  A.Q.M. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  MONITOR  AND  MERRIMACK. 

THE  rebels  were  in  possession  of  Norfolk,  of 
the  important  Navy  Yard  at  Portsmouth,  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Elizabeth  River,  and  all  the  defences 
thereabouts,  and  it  was  quite  well  known  that 
they  had  taken  the  United  States  frigate  Merri- 
mack,  had  dismantled  her,  and  were  fitting1  her 
out  as  an  ironclad.  When  the  Norfolk  Navy 
Yard  was  abandoned  by  Commodore  Paulding  in 
April,  1861,  and  was  immediately  occupied  by  the 
rebels,  all  the  loyal  men  employed  there  left  with 
him,  with  the  exception  of  one  man,  an  iron-fin 
isher,  who  was  from  the  East.  He  assumed  to 
sympathize  with  the  rebels  and  remained  in  their 
shops.  This  man  managed  to  communicate  with 
General  Wool,  through  a  flag  of  truce,  and  kept 
us  informed  of  the  progress  being  made  on  this 
new  ironclad. 

About  the  second  week  in  February,  1862,  an 


76  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

Irishman  appeared  in  the  aides'  room  at  head 
quarters  in  Fort  Monroe,  and  asked  to  see  the 
General.  The  aides  asked  what  his  business  was, 
and  not  being  able  to  get  anything  out  of  him, 
sent  him  in  to  me. 

*  I  want  to  see  the  General,"  was  all  he  would 
say. 

1  You    can't    see   the    General,"    I   answered. 
'  What  do  you  want  to  see  him  for  ?     Where  did 
you  come  from,  and  how  did  you  get  into  the 
fort?" 

"  Sure,  I  walked  in,  sor,"  he  said. 
"  Of  course  you  walked  in.  I  didn't  suppose 
you  came  in  on  a  flying  machine,"  I  said.  "  How 
did  you  get  by  the  guards  ?  You  can't  see  the 
General.  What  you  have  to  tell  him  you  must 
tell  to  me." 

He  protested  that  he  could  not  do  so  ;  that  it 
was  as  much  as  his  life  was  worth.  I  threatened 
to  have  him  locked  in  the  casemate  unless  he 
quickly  told  his  business,  and  finally  he  consented 
to  tell  me.  I  sent  ever}7  one  out  of  the  room  but 
the  Irishman,  and  then,  still  protesting  about  the 
risk  he  was  taking,  he  asked  me  to  take  my  knife 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  77 

and  rip  open  the  sleeve  of  his  coat.  I  cut  the 
cloth  as  he  indicated,  and  found,  on  a  piece  of 
cotton  cloth  sewed  inside  the  lining,  a  communi 
cation  from  the  loyal  workman  in  the  Norfolk 
Navy  Yard. 

He  said  the  Merrimack,  rechristened  the  Vir 
ginia,  had  been  launched,  but  it  was  found  she 
drew  a  foot  less  water  than  they  had  intended. 
She  was  to  receive  another  coat  of  mailing,  and 
would  be  out  in  a  month.  Then  they  were  §•••£ 
to  attack  and  destroy  the  Cumberland  and  the 
Congress,  off  Newport  News,  which  had  been 
armed  especially  to  meet  her.  Simultaneously 
General  Magruder  was  £•••£  to  come  down  from 
Yorktown  and  attack  General  Mansfield,  at  New 
port  News,  and  clean  out  all  the  Union  forces  in 
the  neighborhood.  The  account  of  the  rebel 
plans  was  most  minute. 

We  relied  on  the  loyalty  of  our  informant,  and 
General  Wool,  being  ill  prepared  to  sustain  such 
attacks  as  arranged  by  the  rebels,  sent  me  to 
Washington  as  a  bearer  of  despatches,  to  inform 
the  War  Office  of  the  situation.  On  reporting  at 
the  War  Office  I  found  that  Secretary  of  War 


78  REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

Stanton,  who  had  just  been  appointed,  was  very 
ill.  Second  Assistant  Secretary  of  War  Watson 
received  me.  I  was  accredited  as  a  living  de 
spatch,  and  I  refused  to  deliver  my  despatches  to 
Mr.  Watson.  He  said  Mr.  Stanton  was  at  home 
and  could  not  attend  to  departmental  affairs  in 
his  present  condition.  I  said  the  despatches  I 
bore  were  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  that 
there  were  verbal  messages  to  be  given  with 
them  which  I  alone  could  give.  We  went  to 
Secretary  Stanton's  house,  and  as  he  lay  in  bed 
I  read  my  despatches  arid  related  the  messages  I 
brought  as  a  living  despatch. 

Secretary  Stanton  at  once  appreciated  what  the 
consequences  would  be  if  the  information  was  cor 
rect,  'and  directed  that  I  should  be  taken  to 
the  President.  I  saw  the  President,  told  him 
my  mission,  and  he  deemed  the  matter  of  such 
importance  that  he  summoned  a  Cabinet  council 
to  convene  at  once.  All  the  members  of  the 
Cabinet  were  present,  including  Captain  G.  V. 
Fox,  First  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  the  ac 
tive  head  of  the  department.  Captain  Fox  heard 
my  despatches,  and  turning  to  the  President  said  : 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  79 

"  Mr.  President,  you  need  not  give  yourself 
any  trouble  whatever  about  that  vessel.  I  made 
a  cruise  in  her,  and  know  her  well.  She  drew 
twenty-four  feet  of  water,  and  this  despatch  says 
she  only  draws  nineteen  and  a  half  feet." 

"  Well,  Colonel  Cannon,  what  do  you  say  to 
that?"  asked  the  President. 

I  said  that  I  could  not  give  any  professional 
opinion,  but  that  it  seemed  to  me  the  structural 
changes  that  had  been  made  would  account  for 
the  change  in  draft,  but  that,  in  any  event,  we 
had  every  confidence  in  the  accuracy  of  our  in 
formation,  and  were  well  convinced  of  the  prob 
able  consequences. 

But  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  en 
deavored  to  make  light  of  the  whole  affair,  and 
to  show  that  we  must  be  entirely  mistaken. 
Eventually  the  whole  matter  was  dismissed,  the 
opinion  of  the  Assistant  Secretary  being  taken  as 
of  more  weight  than  anything  we  could  offer. 
The  Washington  authorities  were  lulled  into  in 
sensibility,  and  1  had  to  return. 

But  the  memorable  events  that  followed  in 
Hampton  Roads  quickly  brought  vindication,  and 


80  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

showed  that  the  information  I  carried   to  Wash 
ington  was  accurate  in  all  particulars. 

I  was  an  eye-witness  of  those  events  ;  of  the 
first  day's  onslaught  by  the  Merrimack  and  of  the 
duel  between  the  Monitor  and  the  Merrimack  on 
the  following  day,  being  aboard  the  Monitor  in 
my  official  capacity  immediately  before  and  after 
the  historic  fight.  The  story  of  those  events,  as 
I  saw  them,  is  told  in  the  following  extracts  from 
a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Recollections  of  the  Iron 
clads  Monitor  and  Merrimack,  and  Incidents  of 
the  Fights,"  written  by  me  in  October,  1875,  at 
the  request  of  the  Hon.  G.  V.  Fox,  ex-Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  published  by  Captain 
Fox  in  the  American  Cyclopcedia  of  1876  : 

4  The  Government,  therefore,  was  not  taken 
by  surprise  when  the  Merrimack  appeared,  though 
they  were  alarmingly  startled  by  her  first  da}T's 
success,  and  greatly  exaggerated  her  ability  as  a 
cruiser,  as  she  had  proved  herself  that  day  invin 
cible  against  wooden  vessels  and  their  armament. 

"  The  command  at  Fort  Monroe  being  in  winter 
quarters  was  naturally  more  interested  in  the 
active  operations  of  the  navy  in  the  waters  of 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  8 1 

Virginia,  and  in  the  presence  of  vessels  of  war 
representing  European  nations.  Flags  of  truce 
were  frequent  between  Norfolk  and  Fort  Monroe, 
and  foreign  officers  were  permitted  to  pass  and 
repass  between  the  hostile  forces.  The  officers 
of  two  French  corvettes,  at  anchor  off  the  fort, 
availed  of  this  privilege  very  often,  and  our  staff- 
officers,  on  their  return  from  such  visits,  made 
efforts  to  obtain  information  as  to  the  condition 
of  affairs  at  Norfolk,  but  without  any  measures  of 
success.  On  Friday,  March  7th,  our  flag  of  truce 
brought  over  three  or  four  of  these  French  offi 
cers.  The  next  morning,  Saturday,  our  signal 
officer's  report  to  headquarters  noted  that  the 
French  corvettes  were  '  steaming  up,'  and  as  no 
notice  had  been  sent  the  day  previous  that  they 
were  going  to  sea  (to  entitle  them  to  a  salute),  the 
fact  excited  a  supicion  that  the  Merrimack  was 
coming  out,  and  the  Frenchmen,  knowing  it,  were 
prepared  to  move,  as  they  were  at  anchor  in  the 
line  of  fire. 

General  Mansfield,  commanding  at  Newport 

News,  was  telegraphed  to  keep  a  sharp  look-out. 

"  About  noon  the  Merrimack  was  sighted  com- 


82  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

ing  out  of  the  Elizabeth  River,  and  steaming  up 
the  James  River  to  Newport  News.  The  Minne 
sota  and  Roanoke,  screws,  and  the  St.  Lawrence, 
sailing  frigate,  got  immediately  under  weigh,  but 
both  the  former  took  the  ground  about  two  miles 
from  Newport  News,  and  could  only  engage  the 
Merrimack  at  long  range.  The  two  latter  vessels, 
after  the  loss  of  the  Cumberland  and  Congress, 
returned  to  their  anchorage  below  the  fort,  the 
Minnesota  remaining  hard  aground. 

"  Anticipating  an  attack  by  General  Magruder 
on  Newport  News,  General  Wool  ordered  up  the 
troops  at  Camp  Hamilton  to  the  support  of  Gen 
eral  Mansfield.  Rebel  forces  appeared  and  threat 
ened  an  attack,  but  retired  on  the  appearance  ol 
the  supports.  Captain  Catesby  R.  Jones,  in  his 
article  in  the  Southern  Magazine,  December,  1874, 
gives  the  reasons  why  Magruder  failed  to  make 
the  attack  with  the  land  forces,  showing,  conclu 
sively,  that  the  information  received  by  General 
Wool  in  February,  and  sent  to  the  War  Office, 
was  accurate  in  all  particulars. 

The   Cumberland   was  at   anchor   about   one 
thousand  feet  from  the  shore,  under  the  guns  of 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  83 

a  battery  on  the  Bluff  at  Newport  News  (this 
battery  mounted  five  or  six  guns,  two  of  which 
were  6-inch  rifles,  and  the  others  8-inch  Rod 
mans),  the  Congress  being  at  anchor  about  the 
same  distance  below  the  Cumberland. 

"  The  Merrimack,  in  passing  up,  fired  abroad- 
side  into  the  Congress,  and  continued  on  to  attack 
the  Cumberland.  After  firing  a  few  shots  she  ran 
into  her,  striking  her  near  the  bow  with  her  iron 
ram,  and  forcing  in  her  planking  and  timbers  be 
low  the  water-line,  from  the  effect  of  which  she 
commenced  sinking  rapidly  ;  but  although  com 
manded  to  surrender,  her  heroic  commander, 
Morris,  refused,  and  kept  up  an  active  fire  until 
the  last,  firing  his  guns  till  she  went  down  with 
her  flag  flying  at  the  peak.  The  Congress  had  in 
the  meanwhile  slipped  her  cable  and  drifted 
ashore,  when  the  Merrimack,  taking  a  raking 
position,  attacked  her  with  terrible  effect,  sweep 
ing  her  decks  and  setting  her  on  fire.  Her  com 
mander,  Lieutenant  Smith,  was  killed,  and  to 
continue  so  hopeless  a  fight  was  simply  madness. 
Her  flag  was  struck  and  a  prize  crew  thrown  on 
board  from  a  rebel  gunboat. 


84  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

"  It  is  proper  to  explain  here  that  the  battery 
on  the  Bluff  kept  up  a  continuous  tire  on  the  Mer- 
rimack,  and  from  its  elevation — about  thirty  feet 
above  the  water — and  at  the  short  range  the  fire 
was  almost  perpendicular  to  the  sloping  roof  of 
the  Merrimack,  but  the  effect  of  this  battery's 
shot  was  not  damaging.  General  Mansfield  also 
detailed  a  force  of  infantry  to  the  beach,  who 
kept  up  a  sharp  fire  on  the  ports  of  the  Merri 
mack.  A  section  of  artillery  was  also  engaged  in 
the  fight,  and  on  the  Congress  being  boarded  by 
a  prize  crew,  opened  on  the  prize  with  a  raking 
fire  of  grape,  which  obliged  the  prize  crew  to 
abandon  her.  Then  it  was  that  the  Merrimack 
reopened  fire  on  the  Congress,  a  circumstance 
which  has  led  to  no  little  controversy,  but  which 
finds  its  justification  in  the  precedent  of  Nelson  at 
Copenhagen.  The  Merrimack,  after  the  loss  of 
the  Cumberland,  opened  fire  on  the  shore  battery 
and  camp  at  Newport  News,  without  much  effect, 
although  one  of  her  shells  demolished  General 
Mansfield's  headquarters,  half  burying  the  Gen 
eral  under  the  debris.  Two  of  her  unexploded 
shells  were,  after  the  fight,  picked  up,  one  of 


REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION.  85 

which-is  in  Washington  and  the  other  in  posses- 
sion  of  the  writer. 

"  During  the  engagement  the  Merrimack  was 
joined  by  two  armed  steamers  from  up  the  James 
River,  and  all  these  vessels  turned  their  next  at 
tention  to  the  Minnesota,  hopelessly  aground 
about  two  miles  below.  The  fire  of  the  Minne 
sota  kept  off  the  wooden  vessels,  but  the  Merri 
mack  continued  firing  on  her  at  about  a  mile 
range  until  dark,  but  without  inflicting  much 
damage. 

1  The  whole  aspect  at  headquarters  was  gloomy. 
The  garrison  was  entirely  composed  of  infantry 
volunteers,  the  armament  was  old-fashioned  and 
of  small  calibre,  and  the  experience  of  that  day's 
fight  showed  that  practically  our  batteries  were 
as  useless  as  musket-balls  against  the  ironclad. 
Our  magazines  were  shot-proof  only  from  the  sea 
side  ;  the  parade  in  the  fort  was  filled  with  quar 
termaster  and  commissary  stores,  with  slight  pro 
tection  from  the  weather  ;  the  barracks  were  of 
wood  ;  there  were  no  means  of  extinguishing 
fire,  and  outside  the  fort  an  immense  quantity  of 
naval  ammunition  for  the  coast  fleets,  all  utterly 


86  REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

unprotected,   and   with  no  means  of  removal  to 
meet  the  emergency. 

'  The  success  of  the  Merrimack  gave  her  the 
control  of  the  Roads,  and  if 'she  could  get  suffi 
cient  elevation  to  her  guns,  she  had  the  ability  to 
shell  and  destroy  the  vast  stores  in  and  about  the 
fort  without  the  least  power  on  our  part  to  resist 
her. 

"  Captain  Van  Brunt,  commanding  the  Minne 
sota,  through  Lieutenant  Grafton,  first  officer,  re 
ported  at  headquarters  the  result  of  their  engage 
ment,  and  as  all  efforts  to  get  her  afloat  had  failed, 
it  was  proposed  to  land  a  part  of  her  crew  (to 
save  unnecessary  slaughter),  fight  her  to  the  last, 
and  in  an  emergency  blow  her  up.  The  surviv 
ing  officers  and  crews  of  the  Cumberland  and 
Congress  had  been  brought  into  the  fort,  and  vol 
unteered  to  serve  our  guns.  The  garrison  was, 
therefore,  reduced  to  about  eight  hundred  men, 
the  magazines  from  the  bay  side  banked  up  with 
earth  from  the  parade  and  made  secure,  and  every 
precaution  taken  to  stand  a  shelling. 

"About  9  o'clock  P.M.  Port  Captain  Milward 
reported  at  headquarters  that  the  ironclad  Moni- 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  8? 

tor  had  been  signalled  entering  the  Roads,  and 
was  dropping  anchor  at  the  Horseshoe.  General 
Wool  ordered  the  writer  to  take  an  armed  tug  and 
report  to  her  commander  the  result  of  the  day's 
conflict  and  the  perilous  condition  of  the  Minnesota. 

"  I  boarded  her  about  10.30  P.M.,  finding  the 
news  anticipated  from  the  fleet,  and  Captain  Wor- 
den,  with  an  overworked  crew  from  her  perilous 
passage,  was  about  lifting  anchor  to  go  up  to  the 
Minnesota.  We  remained  alongside  until  she  got 
under  weigh,  with  her  guns  shotted  and  her  men 
at  quarters.  She  reached  the  Minnesota  about 
i  o'clock  without  seeing  the  Merrimack.  Thus 
closed  to  us  a  sadly  eventful  day. 

"  Sunday  morning  (March  9th)  opened  with  a 
low  fog  hanging  over  the  waters.  About  7  o'clock 
a  column  of  black  smoke  was  visible  off  Sewell's 
Point,  and  soon  after  the  top  of  the  smoke-stack 
of  the  Merrimack  appeared.  The  fog  dissipated, 
and  a  calm,  cloudless,  warm  Sunday  morning 
broke  upon  us,  not  a  breath  of  air  disturbed  the 
waters,  and  the  singular  transparency  of  the  at 
mosphere  rendered  objects  distinct  for  a  great  dis 
tance  from  our  elevation  on  the  ramparts. 


88  REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

'  Immediately  after  the  clearing-  of  the  fog  the 
rebel  fleet,  consisting  of  the  Merrimack,  two  side- 
wheel  steamers,  and  two  gunboats  (screws),  got 
under  weigh,  standing  up  the  river,  and  opened 
fire  on  the  Minnesota,  the  latter  briskly  returning 
the  fire.  The  Monitor  stood  out  under  the  bow 
of  the  Minnesota  and  bore  down  on  the  Merri 
mack,  opening  her  battery  at  about  half-mile 
range.  The  rebel  wooden  consorts  soon  deter 
mined  that  it  was  an  entertainment  they  were  not 
invited  to,  and  took  refuge  under  their  shore 
batteries.  Thus  commenced  this  grand  naval 
duel,  witnessed  by  more  than  40,000  armed  men 
on  either  shore,  no  one  of  whom  was  insensible  to 
the  results  of  this  mighty  combat.  The  engage 
ment  between  the  ironclads  continued  at  close 
quarters  for  about  two  hours,  broadsides  being 
frequently  exchanged,  as  appeared  to  the  observer, 
with  the  vessels  almost  in  contact,  and  without 
advantage  to  either.  After  a  close  and  rapid 
countering  the  vessels  separated,  the  Monitor 
steaming  up  the  river  toward  the  Minnesota  and 
followed  for  a  short  distance  by  the  Merrimack, 
but  soon  stopped  and  was  approached  by  two  of 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  89 

the  consorts,  firing  meanwhile  having  been  sus 
pended.  The  Monitor  remained  out  of  action  half 
an  hour  or  more.  With  our  glasses  we  coulcl  see 
men  on  her  dec!:  about  the  pilot-house,  and,  as 
afterward  appeared,  she  had  received  a  shot  which 
broke  one  of  the  wrought-iron  logs  of  the  pilot 
house,  the  same  shot  wounding  Captain  Worden. 
This  injury  was  the  cause  of  her  retiring  from 
action,  but  it  was  soon  ascertained  not  to  be  vital, 
and  she  again  bore  down  on  the  Merrimack.  The 
latter,  it  appeared,  had  got  aground,  but  floated 
before  the  Monitor  came  up  with  her.  The  Moni 
tor  re-engaged  and  forced  the  fight  by  tying 
athwart  the  stern  of  the  Merrimack,  delivering 
her  fire  rapidly  and  with  telling  effect,  as  with 
our  glasses  we  could  see  that  the  Merrimack  was 
settling  by  the  stern.  The  Merrimack,  unable  to 
shake  her  off  or  to  stand  the  pounding,  com 
menced  the  retreat  to  Norfolk  ;  then  went  up  the 
excited  exclamation  of  the  officers  on  the  ram 
parts,  '  She  is  sinking  !  '  and  the  apostrophe  of 
the  late  Captain  Talmaclge  (our  Chief  Quarter 
master),  '  She  sticks  to  her  like  a  king-bird  to  a 
hawk,'  quaintly  illustrating  the  intrepid  action  of 


QO  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

the  little  two-gun  raft  as  she  outfought  a  cham 
pion  which  twenty-lour  hours  before  convulsed 
the  nation  and  astonished  the  world  by  her  achieve 
ments.  The  Monitor  pursued  the  Merrimack  until 
she  was  brought  under  the  fire  of  the  rebel  bat 
teries,  and  then  retired  with  her  purpose  accom 
plished. 

"  At  the  invitation  of  Captain  Fox,  Assistant 
Secretary,  I  boarded  the  Monitor  before  her  decks 
were  cleared.  The  ship's  company  were  mus 
tered,  and  the  Secretary  made  a  brief  and  forcible 
address  to  the  officers  and  crew,  thanking  them, 
in  the  name  of  the  department,  for  their  gallantry 
and  success,  and  inquiring  if  any  special  act  of 
gallantry  had  been  exhibited.  Lieutenant  Green 
replied  that  all  had  done  their  duty,  but  if  any 
one  was  conspicuous  it  was  the  Quartermaster, 
who  had  steered  the  ship  and  never  left  the  wheel 
during  the  engagement,  and  was  by  Worden's 
side  when  he  was  wounded.  The  Secretary  or 
dered  the  man  to  step  forward,  complimented 
him  on  his  steadiness  and  courage,  and  asked  if 
he  would  like  promotion.  This  young  fellow  was 
a  Dane,  singularly  modest,  and  so  overcome  by 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.  9! 

the  recognition  that  he  could  not  find  his  voice  to 
reply.  Lieutenant  Green,  seeing  his  embarrass 
ment,  repeated  the  Secretary's  question,  when 
aside  and  in  a  low  voice  he  said  something  which 
Lieutenant  Green  repeated  :  '  He  says,  sir,  he 
would  like  the  master  to  give  him  a  paper,' 
which,  interpreted,  means  that  he  would  like  a 
written  acknowledgment  that  he  had  done  his 
duty.  The  Secretary  replied  :  '  Yes,  rny  lad,  you 
shall  have  the  paper,  and  you  are  a  boatswain.' 

"  The  Secretary  received  a  verbal  report  from 
Lieutenant  Green  of  the  fight,  and  his  impression 
as  to  the  injury  inflicted  on  the  Merrimack,  stating 
that  the  Monitor  was  ready  to  go  into  action 
again,  excepting  only  strengthening  the  pilot 
house.  It  was  Lieutenant  Green's  opinion  that 
the  Monitor's  charges  and  shot  did  not  penetrate 
the  armor  of  the  Merrimack,  and  he  asked  if  he 
should  increase  the  charge  and  use  the  \v  rough  t- 
iron  shot  in  case  she  came  out  again.  The  Secre 
tary  replied,  '  You  know  Commodore  Dahlgren 
has  limited  the  service  charge  of  the  guns,  and 
such  are  the  orders  of  the  department  ;  but  if  I 
was  fighting  a  ship  and  found  my  ammunition  in- 


Q2  REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

effective,  and  had  something  better,  I  should  try 
it  in  the  emergency.' 

'  Thus  closed  March  Qth,  1862,  with  a  disaster 
of  one  day  changed  into  a  success  which  assured 
us  a  control  of  our  waters  to  the  end  of  the  con 
test. 

'  The  following  day  I  went  up  to  Washington 
as  a  bearer  of  despatches  with  the  Secretary. 
His  estimate  of  the  fight  was  that  it  had  been 
nearly  equal,  but  had  not  the  Merrimack  retreated 
the  Monitor  would  have  sunk  or  captured  her, 
and  that  the  Monitor  must  be  held  to  act  strictly 
on  the  defensive  until  we  had  more  of  the  same 
machines." 

The  following  facts  concerning  the  injustice 
done  to  Lieutenant  Green  in  connection  with  the 
Monitor  should  be  recorded  here. 

When  the  Monitor  went  out  of  action,  because 
of  the  injury  to  her  pilot-house  and  the  wounding 
of  Captain  Worden,  Lieutenant  Green  took  com 
mand,  repaired  the  damage,  took  her  back  into 
action  again,  and  won  the  fight.  In  his  report  to 
Captain  Fox  he  said  that  he  would  be  prepared  to 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  93 

again  go  into  action  in  three  days,  after  the  re 
pairs  to  the  pilot-house  had  been  properly  made. 
His  success  in  the  action  with  the  Merrimack  was 
so  conspicuous  that  the  staff  officers  of  the  array 
immediately  invited  him  to  a  dinner  in  his  honor, 
which  he  was  compelled  to  decline,  as  he  did  not 
feel  that  he  could  leave  his  ship  in  the  contingency 
of  the  Merrimack  reappearing. 

Yet  with  this  undisputed  record  of  his  ability 
and  success  he  was  relieved  of  his  command,  and 
Captain  Jeffers  was  appointed  to  the  command  of 
the  Monitor  in  his  place.  The  officers  of  the  army 
felt  that  it  was  a  grave  act  of  injustice  ;  and  it  may 
be  said  that  there  were  no  officers  of  the  navy 
familiar  with  the  circumstances  but  agreed  that  it 
was  unjust.  For  if  such  signal  success  did  not 
warrant  an  officer  continuing  in  his  command, 
even  if  it  did  not  call  for  promotion,  what  possible 
incentive  .could  there  be  to  stimulate  the  ambition 
of  an  officer  in  a  military  or  naval  command  ? 

Lieutenant  Green  doubtless  felt  that  his  services 
were  not  appreciated,  by  this  failure  of  official 
recognition,  and  the  circumstances  no  doubt  had 
an  influence  on  his  after  life  ;  and  not  unlikely 


94  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

they  were  a  potent  factor  in  the  sad  causes  of  his 
unfortunate  and  untimely  death. 

It  occurs  to  me  that  a  brief  history  of  the  Moni 
tor  might  be  of  interest  in  this  connection. 

Captain  J.  Ericsson,  through  a  friend  of  his,  a 
Mr.  C.  F.  Bushneli,  submitted  to  the  Navy  De 
partment,  very  soon  after  the  firing  on  Fort  Sum- 
ter,  apian  of  a  turreted  ironclad  of  his  own  de 
sign.  The  idea  was  not  received  with  favor  by 
the  Navy  Department.  The  opposition  of  the 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  was  especially 
conspicuous  and  influential.  This  man  subse 
quently  called  the  attention  of  certain  members  of 
the  Naval  Committee  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  to  Ericsson's  suggestion,  and  succeeded  in 
enlisting  the  support  of  Mr.  John  A.  Griswold,  a 
prominent  member  of  Congress.  Mr.  Giisvvold 
became  so  much  interested  in  the  matter  that  he, 
in  conjunction  with  Mr.  John  F.  Winslow,  induced 
the  Navy  Department  to  make  a  contract  with 
them  to  complete  the  vessel,  according  to  the 
designs. 

It  is  especially  due  to  the  memory  of  the  late 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  95 

Mr.  John  A.  Griswold  and  his  associates,  Mr. 
Bushnell  and  Mr.  Winslow,  to  record  that  the 
Navy  Department  was  extremely  reluctant  about 
consenting  to  the  building  of  the  Monitor,  solely 
because  of  lack  of  confidence  in  Ericsson's  inven 
tion.  Its  consent  was  finally  given  only  on  the 
conditions  that  the  Monitor  should  be  proved  to 
be  bomb-proof  in  a  trial  in  actual  engagement,  and 
that  it  should  be  completed  in  one  hundred  days 
from  the  date  of  the  contract.  Governed  strictly 
by  patriotic  motives,  and  with  no  selfish  ends  in 
view,  these  gentlemen  assumed  the  risk  of  the 
construction  of  the  new  vessel. 

It  is  a  memorable  fact,  of  which  this  is  a  notable 
illustration,  that  not  a  few  of  the  signal  successes  of 
the  Government  in  suppressing  the  rebellion,  in 
arms  and  in  political  policy,  were  due  to  the  intel 
ligence  and  sagacity  of  Icyal  citizens  riot  officially 
connected  with  the  Government.  No  history  of 
Ericsson's  invention  of  the  turreted  war  vessel 
would  be  complete  if  it  failed  to  record  the  agency 
and  the  conditions  under  which  the  Monitor  was 
built. 

On  her  completion,  the  Monitor  was  immedi- 


96  REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

ately  despatched  to  the  Chesapeake  River  to 
engage  a  rebel  battery  at  Sandstone  Point  in 
order  to  test  her.  She  was  practically  at  that 
time  a  private  vessel,  although  manned  by  the 
Navy  Department. 

She  appeared  at  Fort  Monroe  on  the  evening  of 
3fer  8th,  the  day  of  the  Merrimack's  destruction 
of  the  Cumberland  and  the  Congress.  She  put 
in  there  for  a  harbor,  having  encountered  violent 
weather  on  her  way  down,  during  which  she  was 
barely  saved  from  foundering  by  the  greatest,  ex- 
ertions.  Her  appearance  at  Fort  Monroe  on  that 
evening,  arriving  there  after  such  a  day  of  dis 
aster  to  the  Federal  forces,  would  seem  to  have 
been  providential.  As  has  been  related,  she  went 
into  action  the  following  day,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  history  a  great  duel  between  ironclads 
was  fought. 

It  is  especially  notable  that  on  one  day  there 
appeared  one  new  type  of  warship — a  vessel  of 
ten  guns,  with  a  sloping  roof  of  armor — which 
proved  superior  to  any  vessel  or  vessels  in  the 
navies  of  the  world  ;  and  that  on  the  following 
day  another  vessel,  of  an  entirely  different  type — 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  97 

also  an  ironclad,  but  with  only  two  guns — ap 
peared  and  proved  to  be  superior  to  the  first.  I 
think  it  may  be  said  with  certainty  that  this  was 
the  most  important  event  in  the  history  of  naval 
warfare  of  the  world,  as  it  led  to  the  abandon 
ment  of  all  previous  types  of  naval  construction, 
and  from  that  day  to  this  the  nations  of  the  earth 
have  been  endeavoring  to  perfect  another  system 
of  naval  defences,  at  enormous  expense,  and  gen 
erally  with  unsatisfactory  results,  for  to  this  hour 
the  question  of  floating  defences  against  projectiles 
remains  unsolved. 

Up  to  this  time  the  projectiles  have  kept  ahead 
of  the  defences,  remarkably  verifying  a  notable 
statement  made  by  the  late  Admiral  Farragut, 
when  dining  with  us  at  headquarters  at  Fort 
Monroe,  as  he  was  about  entering  upon  his  com 
mand  with  his  small  wooden  fleet,  to  engage  the 
forts  on  the  Mississippi  River,  and  if  possible  cap 
ture  New  Orleans.  When  it  was  asked  of  him  by 
General  Wool  how  he  expected  to  overcome  the 
two  great  fortifications  on  the  Mississippi  River, 
Fort  Jackson  and  Fort  St.  Philip,  his  reply  was  : 

"  I  don't  want  the  forts,   but  I  want  the  city 


98  REMINISCENCES   OF  THE    REBELLION. 

beyond  the  forts.  And  you  and  I  know,  General 
Wool,  that  great  gun  service  is  very  uncertain  of 
result  against  an  object  in  motion.  If  I  can 
get  into  action  where  I  want  to  be,  yardarm  and 
yardarm,  so  close  that  I  can  use  grape  and  canis 
ter,  I  will  drive  your  men  from  their  guns,  be 
cause  I  can  bring  more  guns  to  bear  in  a  broad 
side  than  you  have  mounted  in  either  barbette  or 
casemate.  We  shall  have  the  ironclad  fever,  but, 
General  Wool,  there  never  will  be  a  vessel  built 
that  won't  sink  at  her  dock  but  that  a  projectile 
will  have  been  invented  superior  to  the  defence." 
(In  other  words,  a  vessel  carrying  armor  presum 
ably  sufficient  to  stop  the  projectiles  could  not  go 
to  sea,  because  ol  the  weight  of  her  armor,  but 
would  sink  at  her  dock.) 

To  this  hour  Admiral  Farragut's  statement  is 
true.  He  proved  his  theory  (and  it  was  original), 
and  he  did  pass  those  forts.  He  said  : 

"  If  I  can  get  one  of  my  ships  safe  to  New  Or 
leans  I  can  capture  the  city."  He  lost  some  of 
his  ships,  but  one  ship  got  to  the  city  under  Com 
modore  Bailey,  and  the  city  surrendered  without 
firing  a  gun. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  99 

This  incident  is  related  as  a  tribute  to  Admiral 
Farragut's  sagacity  and  foresight  in  regard  to 
naval  defences  and  the  power  of  projectiles. 

The  success  of  the  Monitor,  although  apparently 
insignificant  in  itself  as  a  mere  duel  between  two 
ironclads,  in  effect  gave  us  control  not  only  of 
Hampton  Roads,  but  of  the  entire  Southern  coast, 
and  perhaps  was  the  most  important  success  dur 
ing  the  entire  war,  except,  of  course,  the  final  sur 
render  of  Lee  at  Appomattox. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

FIRST  SERVICE  OF   NEGROES  IN  THE  UNION  FORCES. 

OUR  experiences  with  the  Merrimack  convinced 
the  army  and  navy  officers  that  she  was  proof 
against  all  gun-fire.  Even  our  two  largest  guns, 
then  the  largest  afioat  in  the  world,  were  ineffec 
tive  against  her,  because  of  the  peculiar  formation 
of  her  sloping  roof  of  armor.  It  was  decided  that 
the  only  way  to  destroy  her  was  by  ramming 
her.  Some  little  time  after  the  duel  in  Hampton 
Roads,  early  in  the  month  of  April,  four  big 
steamships — the  Vanderbilt,  the  Arago,  the  Erics 
son,  and  the  Illinois — came  down  to  Fort  Monroe, 
to  be  in  the  harbor  in  readiness  to  attack  the 
Merrimack  if  she  came  out  and  to  destroy  her  by 
running  her  down. 

All  the  steamships  came  down  under  sealed  or 
ders.  Captain  Gadsden,  of  the  Arago,  a  mer 
chant  ship  chartered  for  this  service,  on  reaching 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


Fort  Monroe  and  opening  his  orders,  found  that 
his  ship  was  to  be  a  ram.  His  crew  in  some  way 
got  to  know  the  nature  of  the  mission  their  ship 
was  oil,  and  the  dangerous  character  of  the  work 
in  which  they  were  to  engage,  and  promptly  de 
serted  in  a  body.  The  next  morning  Captain 
Gadsden  found  he  had  not  a  man  aboard  his  ship 
except  his  officers.  He  went  to  the  admiral  of 
the  fleet,  stated  his  dilemma,  and  asked  if  the  ad 
miral  could  supply  men  to  take  the  place  of  the 
deserters.  The  admiral  said  he  had  not  a  man  to 
spare.  But  on  examining  his  orders  closely  Cap 
tain  Gadsden  found  he  was  commissioned  under  a 
military  order,  the  vessels  having  been  chartered 
by  the  War  Office  instead  of  by  the  Navy  Depart 
ment.  Under  these  circumstances  he  applied  to 
General  Wool  for  help. 

General  Wool  told  Captain  Gadsden  he  could 
not  do  anything  at  all  for  him.  Instead  of  having 
men  to  spare  he  badly  needed  ten  thousand  more 
troops.  In  any  case,  he  suggested,  soldiers  would 
not  be  of  any  use  to  supply  the  place  of  sailors  in 
manning  a  ship.  Captain  Gadsden  said  any  able- 
bodied  men  would  do.  He  only  wanted  them  to 


102          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

keep  the  fires  banked  and  to  be  able  to  roust  up 
an  anchor  and  do  such  like  work  ;  his  officers 
would  attend  to  all  the  strictly  nautical  duties. 
But  General  Wool  said  he  could  not  aid  him. 
Negroes  were  the  only  people  he  had  a  surplus 
of,  and  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  them.  "  My 
Chief  of  Staff  has  everything  to  do  with  the 
negroes,"  he  said. 

General  Wool  brought  Captain  Gadsden  in  to 
me,  and  the  latter  related  to  me  the  condition  of 
affairs.  He  said  negroes  would  do  for  his  pur 
poses  quite  as  well  as  white  men,  and  asked  me  if 
I  would  give  him  fifty  negroes. 

"  Yes,"  I  answered,  "  I  will  let  you  have  all  the 
negroes  you  want  under  certain  conditions." 

"  What  are  they  ?"  asked  Captain  Gadsden. 

"  They  must  be  volunteers,"  I  said.  "  They 
must  understand  exactly  the  nature  of  the  service 
expected  of  them,  all  its  dangers  and  its  possibili 
ties,  and  must  undertake  it  voluntarily,  or  they  are 
of  no  use  whatever  to  you.  I  cannot  tell  whether 
they  will  volunteer  or  not.  No  one  knows  what 
negroes  would  do  under  such  circumstances  ;  no 
one  knows  whether  the  negro  is  any  good  or  not 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.          IO3 

in  conditions  like  these,  so  entirely  novel  to  him. 
But  I  will  make  the  experiment  if  you  like.  They 
must,  further,  be  rated  on  the  ship's  books,  and 
their  standing  must  be  the  same  as  that  of  the 
crew  which  has  deserted." 

Captain  Gadsden  agreed  to  these  conditions. 
'  What  will  be  the  pay  ?"  I  asked. 

'  Thirteen  dollars  a  month  and  rations,"  he 
answered. 

"All  right,"  I  said.  "I  think  I  can  get  men 
for  you.  You  come  to  me  at  12  o'clock.  In  the 
meantime  I  will  see  the  Quartermaster  in  com 
mand  of  the  negro  stevedores,  the  best  negroes 
we  have,  and  will  see  what  can  be  done." 

I  sent  for  Captain  Wilder,  the  Quartermaster  in 
charge  of  the  negroes,  and  related  the  affair  to 
him.  I  impressed  upon  him  that  the  circum 
stances  were  most  extraordinary  and  important. 
It  was  an  entirely  new  condition  we  were  con 
fronting  and  trying  to  deal  with. 

"  We  do  not  know  whether  these  negroes  ap 
preciate  their  condition  and  their  present  circum 
stances  or  not,"  I  said.  '  We  do  not  know 
whether  the  negro  is  good  for  anything  except 


104         REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

what  he  has  hitherto  been  used  for  or  not.  But 
if  you  can  get  fifty  of  these  men  to  go  on  the 
Arago,  I  am  wpMndfy.  anxious  you  should  do  so. 
I  should  like  especially  to  know  whether  negroes 
can  be  got  to  take  places  in  which  white  men 
would  not  remain.  The  enterprise  is  hazardous 
in  the  extreme.  You  get  these  men  together  at 
noon  and  see  what  you  can  do/' 

Captain  Wilder  said  he  fully  appreciated  the 
circumstances.  "  Come  down  yourself,"  he  said, 
"and  I  think  we  shall  be  able  to  do  it  between 
us." 

At  12  o'clock  Captain  Wilder  had  three  hun 
dred  and  fifty  sturdy  negro  stevedores  drawn  up 
in  double  lines.  Captain  Wilder  made  an  address 
to  them.  He  said  they  had  seen  the  great  fight 
between  the  rebel  ship  Merrimack  and  the  Moni 
tor,  and  what  a  powerful  fighter  the  Merrimack 
was.  This  great,  strange  ship,  he  said,  was  com 
ing  out  again,  and  four  big  ships  had  come  down 
to  attack  her  when  she  came.  Their  work  would 
be  very  dangerous,  and  when  the  crew  of  one  of 
these  ships  heard  what  the  work  was  to  be  they 
were  such  cowards  they  deserted. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          10$ 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  I  want  to  know  if  you  will 
take  the  places  of  these  men.  I  want  to  know 
your  worth  to  God  and  to  your  country.  Who 
of  you  will  volunteer  to  go  on  board  this  ship  ?" 

Not  a  sign  of  emotion  was  visible  on  the  counte 
nance  of  any  one  of  the  negroes  during  Captain 
Wilder's  address.  They  stood  like  so  many 
sphinxes.  There  was  no  response  to  his  appeal. 

I  was  discouraged  and  disgusted,  for  I  was  not 
prepared  for  such  a  thoroughly  disheartening  ex 
hibition  of  indifference.  But  I  decided  to  make 
an  attempt  myself  to  see  if  they  understood  just 
their  circumstances,  and  had  any  appreciation  of 
the  nature  of  the  opportunity  thus  offered  to 
them.  I  addressed  them,  saying  : 

"  I  do  not  know  what  the  result  of  this  war  will 
be  in  regard  to  your  condition.  I  hope  it  will 
result  in  your  freedom  ;  but  you  have  got  to  com 
mend  yourselves  to  the  people  of  the  North  by 
showing  that  you  are  worthy  to  be  free.  Some 
have  got  to  shed  their  blood,  others  to  lay  down 
their  lives  ;  for  no  great  benefit  has  ever  come  to 
any  people  except  through  personal  sacrifices. 
You  have  seen  the  battle  which  has  been  fought 


106    .      REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

between  the  Merrimack  and  our  vessels  of  war. 
We  have  brought  down  four  big  ships  to  destroy 
the  Merrimack  by  ramming  her.  The  enterprise 
is  a  hazardous  one,  but  it  is  one  of  glory.  From 
on  board  one  ship  the  white  sailors  have  deserted 
because  of  the  hazard  of  the  service.  It  is  my 
privilege  to  offer  to  fifty  of  you  the  opportunity 
to  volunteer  to  go  on  that  ship.  This  is  the  first 
offer  of  the  kind  ever  made  to  your  race.  Every 
man  who  survives  will  be  a  hero,  and  those  who 
fall  will  be  martyrs.  Now,  those  boys  who  will 
volunteer  to  go  on  board  this  fighting  ship  will 
move  three  paces  to  the  front." 

And  the  whole  line  moved  up  in  a  solid  column, 
as  though  actuated  by  a  single  impulse.  It  was  a 
thrilling  response,  and  the  most  remarkable  and 
impressive  scene  I  ever  witnessed. 

We  picked  out  fifty  of  the  most  likely  men,  and 
they  were  sent  at  once  on  board  the  Arago.  They 
were  escorted  down  to  the  boats  by  all  the  negroes 
round  about,  with  shouting,  singing,  and  pray 
ing,  and  every  demonstration  of  exultant  joy.  It 
was  a  most  exciting  and  inspiring  sight. 

I  returned  to  headquarters  very  much  elated. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.        »  IO/ 

I  related  the  success  of  the  scheme  to  General 
Wool,  and  told  him  what  a  vindication  it  was  of 
the  ideas  embodied  in  the  recommendations  con 
tained  in  the  report  and  his  orders  concerning  the 
fugitive  slaves.  I  told  him  I  had  such  confidence 
in  the  value  of  the  negro  as  a  soldier  that  I  would, 
if  occasion  offered  or  circumstances  required, 
throw  up  my  commission  and  take  command  of  a 
regiment  of  negroes  with  the  greatest  readiness 
and  enthusiasm. 

The  volunteers  put  aboard  the  Arago  proved 
themselves  most  apt  and  willing  workers,  and 
soon  proved  their  value  and  justified  our  confi 
dence  in  them.  They  were  equipped  as  sailors, 
and  when  they  came  ashore  the  negroes  in  our 
lines  almost  worshipped  them. 

A  week  or  two  after  this  incident  Captain  Fox, 
First  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  came  down 
to  Fort  Monroe.  I  told  him  what  we  had  done, 
and  he  was  greatly  interested  and  saw  the  men, 
and  inquired  fully  as  to  their  capabilities  and 
value.  Shortly  afterward  he  issued  an  order  that 
the  fleets  should  be  recruited  entirely  from 
negroes. 


108          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

Thus  were  negroes,  fugitive  slaves,  enlisted  in 
the  naval  service  of  the  United  States,  as  free 
men  and  free  agents,  on  the  same  footing  as  the 
white  volunteers,  nine  months  before  the  Procla 
mation  of  Emancipation  by  President  Lincoln. 

In  looking  back  on  the  condition  of  affairs  at 
that  time,  I  am  reminded  of  another  important 
illustration  of  the  real  importance  of  the  negroes, 
although  we  were  then  practically  insensible  to  it. 

Although  we  had  a  secret  spy  service  of  white 
men,  we  never  really  got  any  information  of  value 
through  it.  The  only  information  which  proved 
of  notable  assistance  to  us  we  got  from  the  fugitive 
negroes.  These  negroes  all  passed  through  the 
rebel  lines  in  escaping  to  our  protection.  Many 
of  them  had  been  servants  of  officers  in  the  rebel 
army,  and  we  got  much  information  from  them. 
One  reason  of  its  value  was  because  of  its  sim 
plicity.  The  negroes  were  ignorant,  and  never 
undertook  to  reason  about  matters.  They  told 
us  what  they  had  seen,  simply  as  they  saw  it. 
By  getting  half  a  dozen  fugitive  negroes  and  ques 
tioning  them  closely  we  could  usually  find  out 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          109 

pretty  accurately  the  force  of  the  rebels,  how 
many  guns  they  had,  and  their  conditions  and 
positions. 

The  most  valuable  information  we  got  in  this 
way  at  Fort  Monroe  was  about  May  I5th  or  2oth, 
1862.  A  boat  containing  three  negroes,  a  mulatto 
and  two  black  fellows,  was  picked  up  in  the  Roads 
by  one  of  our  gunboats.  The  negroes  said  they 
had  information  they  wanted  to  convey  to  head 
quarters,  and  they  were  sent  up  to  us.  They  said 
they  had  escaped  from  Norfolk  over  night  in  the 
fog.  The  yellow  man  had  been  the  chief  porter 
in  the  principal  hotel  in  Norfolk.  He  had,  in 
some  way,  stolen  duplicate  copies  of  General 
Huger's  military  maps  of  the  whole  of  the  de 
fences  of  Norfolk,  which  he  turned  over  to  us. 
These  maps  contained  the  fullest  and  most  ex 
plicit  information  about  the  rebel  position  and 
forces.  One  of  the  black  fellows  with  him  had 
been  employed  at  Sewell's  Point,  and  the  other 
on  Pig  Point,  two  of  the  most  important  of  the 
rebel  batteries.  The  mulatto  man  had  got  these 
two  fellows  to  measure  the  calibre  of  the  rebel 
guns  and  to  count  their  number.  Being  ignorant 


1 10          REMINISCENCES    OF   THE   REBELLION. 

on  the  subject  of  gun  calibres,  they  had  simply 
taken  sticks  and  cut  them  off  the  size  of  the  muz 
zles  of  the  guns,  thus  accurately  showing  the  cali 
bres.  Their  ignorant  way  of  getting  this  informa 
tion  was  much  more  valuable  than  probably  would 
have  been  the  attempted  estimate  of  more  intelli 
gent  men. 

We  would  have  given,  at  any  time,  one  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  for  the  information  those 
three  negroes  brought  to  us.  We  attacked  and 
captured  Norfolk  about  a  week  after  we  received 
the  information,  and  the  success  of  the  expedition 
was  due  entirely  to  the  information  the  negroes 
brought,  particularly  to  that  contained  in  the 
duplicate  maps  brought  to  us  by  the  mulatto  man. 

Several  other  notable  instances  came  under  my 
immediate  observation  of  the  great  service  ren 
dered  by  the  negroes  in  thus  bringing  information 
into  the  Union  lines. 

On  my  way  to  join  General  Wool's  staff  at  Fort 
Monroe,  I  stopped  in  New  York  to  complete  my 
equipment  and  to  secure  a  servant.  A  man 
named  Benjamin  Bowsman,  a  mulatto,  whom  I 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE   REBELLION.          Ill 

had  known  as  an  officer's  servant  in  the  Florida 
War,  came  to  me  and  asked  to  be  taken  into  my 
service.  He  was  then  chief  cook  on  the  steam 
ship  Arago,  running-  between  New  York  and 
Havre.  I  told  him  at  once  that  he  was  too  high- 
priced  for  the  position  ;  but  he  seemed  intent  on 
going  with  me,  and  asked  what  I  could  get  a  ser 
vant  for.  I  told  him  twenty-five  dollars  a  month. 
He  said  he  would  accept  that  willingly,  and  urged 
me  to  take  him  with  me,  saying  he  could  no  doubt 
be  of  great  service  in  organizing  the  servants  and 
in  such  like  work.  Finally  1  took  him  down  with 
me,  and  we  made  him  chief  cook  and  steward  at 
headquarters. 

Some  weeks  later  I  had  one  day  returned  to 
headquarters  late  in  the  evening,  and  while  at 
dinner  I  heard  a  murmuring,  droning  sound,  as 
of  some  one  reading,  or  perhaps  of  a  prayer-meet 
ing,  in  the  kitchen  across  the  hall.  I  asked  Bows- 
man  next  morning  what  was  going  on  in  the 
kitchen,  and  after  a  great  deal  of  hesitancy  he 
told  me  he  was  teaching  school  there  evenings. 
I  was  much  surprised,  and  on  questioning  him 
further  found  that  he  had  for  pupils  one  of  my 


112          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

servants,  some  of  General .  Wool's,  and  the  ser 
vants  of  several  other  officers.  Most  of  these 
pupils  were  fugitive  slaves.  Bowsman  confessed 
to  me  that  he  had  brought  down  with  him  from 
New  York  some  large  alphabet  cards  and  some 
elementary  school-books,  for  the  express  purpose 
of  teaching  these  slaves  to  read  and  write,  he 
keenly  appreciating  the  fact  that  power  comes 
from  knowledge,  and  that  what  his  race  most 
needed  was  education.  This  he  had  done  in  a 
most  secret,  surreptitious  manner,  feeling  that  the 
military  authorities  would  not  permit  it  if  they 
knew  of  it.  His  chief  object  in  desiring  to  go 
with  me  to  Fort  Monroe  as  my  servant  was  to 
have  this  opportunity  of  teaching  the  negroes  to 
read  and  write,  and  to  educate  them  so  far  as  he 
was  able. 

I  was  very  much  interested  in  this  man's  pur 
pose  and  his  intelligence,  and  I  obtained  an  order 
that  a  building  outside  the  fort  should  be  as 
signed  in  which  the  negroes  might  openly  have  a 
school.  I  gave  him  money  with  which  to  buy  the 
necessary  books,  and  they  were  obtained  and  a 
school  for  the  fugitives  was  established  in  a  sys- 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION.          113 

tematic  manner.  It  was  a  most  comical  sight 
afterward  to  see  every  negro  who  could  get  pos 
session  of  a  school-book  proudly  walking  around 
with  the  book  showing  conspicuously  half-way 
out  of  his  pocket,  although  in  most  cases  the  men 
did  not  know  one  letter  from  another.  But  event 
ually  the  schools  started  by  Bowsman  resulted  in 
the  pw»t  enlightenment  of  a  gpflQpt  many  of  the 
fugitive  negroes  who  came  into  our  lines. 

This  man  Bowsman's  family  made  a  remarkable 
record.  One  of  his  sons  who  was  ambitious  for 
advancement  in  life  was  befriended  by  Dr.  Brins- 
mead,  an  eminent  physician  of  Troy,  who  took 
him  into  his  office  and  educated  him  until  he  was 
able  to  undergo  an  examination  for  admission  to  a 
medical  college.  An  application  in  his  behalf  was 
refused  by  every  medical  college  in  the  State  of 
New  York.  Feeling  an  interest  in  this  young 
man,  and  desiring  his  success,  I  wrote  to  Gov 
ernor  Andrew,  of  Massachusetts,  telling  him  the 
circumstances.  Governor  Andrew  immediately 
replied  that  if  I  would  send  the  young  man  to 
Massachusetts  he  would  see  that  he  had  an  op 
portunity  of  having  an  examination.  Young  Bows- 


114         REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

man  went  to  Massachusetts,  and  passed  the  ex 
amination  with  great  credit. 

After  he  had  received  his  diploma  1  made  efforts 
to  get  him  into  the  service  of  the  United  States 
Army,  but  the  request  was  denied  by  the  Sur 
geon-General's  Office  in  Washington.  I  then 
wrote  to  General  Butler,  who  was  on  the  James 
River,  in  front  of  Richmond,  and  told  him  the 
circumstances.  He  told  me  to  send  the  young 
man  to  him,  and  he  would  see  that  he  had  a  com 
mission  as  Assistant  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Bowsman  reported  to  General  Butler's 
command,  and  he  developed  so  much  merit  that 
in  less  than  a  year  he  had  risen  to  be  a  Brigade 
Surgeon.  The  brigade  to  which  he  was  attached 
was  mustered  out  of  the  service  in  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  he  remained  in 
that  city  and  secured  a  good  practice  in  his  pro 
fession.  During  the  administration  of  General 
Grant  he  was  appointed  Postmaster  of  the  city  of 
Charleston,  which  office  he  filled  to  the  satisfac 
tion  of  all  the  people  of  the  city,  white  and  black. 
He  was  a  mulatto,  and  in  every  respect  a  thor 
ough  gentleman. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

NEGOTIATING    FOR    AN    EXCHANGE    OF    PRISONERS. 

FROM  motives  of  national  policy  the  administra 
tion  had  steadily  refused  to  recognize  the  hostili 
ties  with  the  South  as  a  war,  maintaining-  that  it 
was  simply  a  rebellion.  It  had  assumed  to  treat 
the  rebels  captured  on  the  high  seas  as  pirates, 
and  even  proposed  to  try  them  for  piracy.  Doubt 
less  the  administration  was  influenced  to  take  this 
position  in  order  to  prevent  European  nations 
from  recognizing  the  South  as  a  belligerent. 
Consequently  the  Federal  Government  had  re 
fused  to  accord  to  the  rebels  the  treatment  usual 
under  the  rules  which  govern  civilized  warfare 
between  nations,  and  especially  so  in  the  matter 
of  exchange  of  prisoners. 

As  is  well  known,  our  disasters  and  defeats  in 
the  first  year  of  the  war  were  great  ;  we  had  but 
few  successes.  As  a  consequence,  the  number  of 
Union  prisoners  in  rebel  hands  greatly  exceeded 


Il6          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

the  number  of  rebels  captured  by  us.  A  general 
feeling  prevailed  in  the  North  that  these  prisoners 
in  the  South  were  being  treated  in  a  barbarous 
manner,  and  that  they  were  suffering  great  priva 
tions  and  want.  Doubtless  this  condition  of  the 
prisoners  was  due  in  part  to  the  narrow  resources 
of  the  South  for  providing  for  them.  The  feeling 
in  the  North  that  exchanges  should  be  made  be 
came  very  embarrassing  to  the  administration, 
but  the  pressure  was  resisted  strongly  on  the 
ground  that  a  yielding  to  it  would  embarrass  our 
position  with  foreign  nations.  A  potent  element 
in  our  protest  to  foreign  nations  was  that  they 
could  not  recognize  an  independence  which  we 
had  refused  to  recognize,  and  that  any  such  recog 
nition  on  their  part  would  as  certainly  expose 
them  to  similar  action  in  case  they  were  in  turn 
visited  with  insurrection  or  rebellion. 

But  notwithstanding  the  apprehension  of  foreign 
complications,  the  administration  was  finally 
driven  to  the  appointment  of  a  commission  to 
negotiate  with  the  rebel  authorities  for  a  basis  of 
exchange  of  prisoners.  General  Wool,  Colonel 
Cram,  and  myself  were  appointed  Commissioners 


REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION.          1 17 

on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  and  General 
Howell  Cobb,  General  Huger,  and  Colonel  Single 
ton  were  appointed  on  the  part  of  the  rebel  gov 
ernment.  We  were  to  negotiate  a  basis  of  ex 
change  and  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War  for 
approval. 

Our  instructions  from  the  War  Office  contained 
certain  limitations,  which  it  was  extremely  doubt- 
lul  that  the  rebel  government  would  accept.  The 
administration  declared  that  no  one  who  had  been 
in  the  civil  or  military  service  of  the  United  States 
should  be  a  basis  of  exchange.  Of  course  these 
were  the  very  first  persons  the  rebels  would  de 
mand,  for  their  captured  officers  they  especially 
wanted.  Then  it  was  insisted  that  all  non-combat 
ants  captured  should  be  paroled  ;  and,  further,  that 
every  one  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States  should  be  treated  according  to  the  rules 
governing  civilized  warfare.  This  latter  provision 
would,  of  course,  permit  the  enlistment  of  negroes, 
to  which  the  rebel  authorities  would  naturally 
object. 

Nevertheless  we  arranged  for  a  meeting,  which 
took  place  on  a  rebel  steamer  in  Hampton  Roads, 


Il8          REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

off  Sewell's  Point,  on  Sunday,  February 
1862.  The  details  for  a  basis  of  exchange  were 
carefully  considered.  We  insisted  that  their  two 
superior  ranks  of  General  and  Lieutenant-General 
should  be  treated  as  of  equal  value  in  exchange 
with  our  highest  rank  of  Major-General,  contend 
ing  that  the  difference  was  one  of  name  only,  as 
the  forces  commanded  and  the  powers  exercised 
by  officers  of  our  highest  rank  made  that  rank 
certainly  the  equivalent  if  not  the  superior  of  their 
highest  rank.  After  a  long  discussion  the  rebel 
Commissioners  agreed  to  our  contention.  Finally 
a  general  agreement  was  arrived  at  that  the  de 
tailed  conditions  of  the  cartel  should  be  the  same 
as  that  which  obtained  between  England  and  the 
United  States  in  the  War  of  1812. 

The  Joint  Commission  adjourned  to  meet  on 
the  following  Sunday  to  conclude  the  agreement, 
after  reporting  to  their  respective  governments. 
Meanwhile,  it  was  agreed  that  all  prisoners  held 
by*either  side  should  be  immediately  paroled, 
such  parole  to  be  observed  until  the  regular  ex 
change  was  effected.  The  prisoners  on  both  sides 
were  at  once  paroled  under  this  agreement  and 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          I  19 

returned  to  their  respective  lines.  All  the  North 
ern  prisoners  confined  in  Libby  Prison  were  liber 
ated  under  this  agreement.  This  general  release 
satisfied  the  demands  of  the  loyal  North,  and  the 
report  of  our  action  and  negotiations  was  made 
to  the  War  Office. 

The  joint  Commission  reconvened  the  following 
Sunday,  and  we  then  submitted  to  the  rebel  Com 
missioners  the  further  limitations  imposed  by  the 
War  Office,  as  related  above.  The  rebel  Commis 
sioners  utterly  refused  to  accept  the  conditions, 
as  the  exceptions  were  made  entirely  on  one  side. 
The  result  was  that  the  conference  was  abruptly 
terminated.  For  a  time  personal  exchanges  were 
made,  and  in  the  end  both  sides  practically  ac 
cepted  the  usual  conditions  which  governed  civil 
ized  warfare. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  REBEL  POST-OFFICE  AND  PRISONERS'  LETTERS. 

FLAGS  of  truce  between  Norfolk  and  Fort 
Monroe  were  frequent,  and  being  often  the  officer 
in  command,  I  had  occasion  of  meeting  quite  fre 
quently  the  very  gentlemanly  officer  in  charge  of 
the  rebel  flag  of  truce,  Colonel  Singleton.  I  felt 
from  his  manner  that  he  was  by  no  means  certain 
that  he  was  pursuing  the  path  of  honor  in  his 
allegiance  to  the  rebel  cause,  but  he  was  never 
theless  thoroughly  honest  in  his  support,  and  he 
enlisted  my  sympathies  to  no  little  extent,  and  as 
far  as  I  could  I  was  disposed  to  do  him  any  per 
sonal  favor. 

No  correspondence  whatever  was  allowed  to 
pass  between  the  North  and  the  South  during  the 
war  but  was  opened  and  examined  before  it  was 
sent  in  either  direction,  either  into  the  rebel  lines 
or  into  ours.  We  had  at  Fort  Monroe  a  detail  of 
aides  and  orderlies  for  this  service. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.          121 

Colonel  Singleton,  knowing  that  all  letters  were 
examined  in  the  aides'  room,  on  one  occasion 
asked  me,  as  a  personal  favor,  if  I  would  take  a 
letter  from  a  brother  officer  of  his  to  a  lady  in  the 
North,  his  fiancee,  and  asked  if  I  would  read  it 
and  forward  it  without  its  going  through  the 
aides'  room. 

I  asked  him,  "  Do  you  know  the  contents  of 
this  letter  ?  Have  you  read  it  ?  If  not,  I  shall 
have  to  request  you  to  read  it." 

He  said  he  had  read  it,  that  it  was  purely  per 
sonal,  and  that  it  did  not  contain  anything  that 
might  be  in  any  way  tortured  into  being  consid 
ered  contraband  of  war. 

"  Colonel,"  I  said,  "  can  I  ask  you,  as  a  gentle 
man  and  a  soldier,  if  this  is  a  letter  that  can  be 
forwarded,  and  that  would  not  compromise  me  ?" 

"  Certainly,  sir,"  he  answered. 

"  Seal  the  letter,"  I  said,  "  and  I  will  send  it 
on." 

"  I  expected  nothing  less,  "he  replied.  "  What 
ever  favor  I  can  do  for  you  or  any  of  your  friends, 
command  me." 

He  little  thought  in  making  this  courteous  reply 


122         REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

what  a  signal  favor  he  would  soon  render,  not  to 
me,  but  to  a  great  number  of  our  prisoners  in 
their  hands. 

Under  the  orders  of  the  Post-Office  Department 
of  the  rebel  government,  no  letter  could  be  sent 
to  a  prisoner  of  war  unless  accompanied  by  a  five- 
cent  piece,  to  pay  the  postage  in  the  rebel  lines. 
The  people  of  the  North,  not  knowing  this,  sent 
their  letters  with  simply  the  Federal  stamp.  After 
examining  the  letters  we  pasted  a  slip  of  paper 
containing  a  five-cent  piece  on  the  back  of  each.  No 
letters  were  sent  by  flag  of  truce  into  the  enemy's 
lines  that  did  not  contain  this  required  franking. 

Colonel  Singleton  reported  to  me  one  day  that 
there  was  a  large  number  of  letters  at  the  post- 
office  at  Norfolk,  which  had  been  held  there  for 
some  days  or  weeks  because  they  were  unaccom 
panied  by  this  five-cent  piece  for  rebel  postage. 
I  replied  to  him  that  not  a  letter  had  been  sent 
into  their  lines  but  that  a  five-cent  piece  had  been 
sent  with  it  in  the  manner  described.  Of  course 
this  was  embarrassing  to  him,  as  a  rebel  officer, 
and  he  said  that  it  was  not  a  matter  he  cared  to 
discuss  ;  he  simply  told  me  of  the  fact. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          123 

We  had  heard  of  continued  complaints  from 
prisoners  in  the  South  that  they  never  received 
letters  from  their  friends  in  the  North.  I  asked 
Colonel  Singleton  the  number  of  letters  lying  in 
Norfolk.  He  told  me,  as  I  remember  it,  that 
there  were  some  hundreds.  I  at  once  gave  him 
what  money  I  had  with  me,  requesting  him  to  pay 
the  postage  and  forward  the  letters  at  once,  and 
promising  that  I  would  forward  him  the  balance, 
whatever  it  might  be,  on  his  letting  me  know  the 
amount.  This  money — some  three  hundred  dol 
lars — I  paid  myself,  and  all  the  detained  letters 
were  forwarded. 

Some  little  time  afterward  the  rebel  press  at 
Richmond,  a  most  disloyal  and  disreputable  con 
cern,  stated  that  these  letters  had  come  over  there 
without  conforming  to  their  post-office  rules,  and 
had  finally  been  forwarded  to  the  prisoners  by 
the  rebel  government  without  charge. 

Colonel  Singleton  was  a  member  of  General 
Huger's  staff,  and  had  reported  my  action  to 
General  Huger,  and  the  General  at  once  pro 
nounced  the  statement  made  by  the  Richmond 
press  to  be  false,  and  stated  that  these  letters  had 


124         REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

been  forwarded  at  the  instance  of  a  United  States 
officer,  who  had  personally  paid  the  expense  him 
self. 

Thus  a  little  act  of  courtesy  to  Colonel  Single 
ton  led  to  his  giving  me  this  information,  which 
resulted  in  so  much  satisfaction  and  pleasure  to 
the  unfortunate  prisoners  confined  in  Southern 
prisons. 

Through  the  examination  of  mail  passing  the 
lines,  not  a  few  people  in  the  North  were  compro 
mised.  In  any  case  where  the  aides  and  orderlies 
charged  with  the  work  of  examination  deemed  a 
discovery  of  contraband  matter  more  than  usually 
important,  it  was  submitted  to  me  to  determine 
what  action  should  be  taken. 

On  one  occasion  a  letter  was  received  at  Fort 
Monroe  written  by  the  late  Mr.  Samuel  Barlow, 
of  this  city,  to  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  then  rebel 
Secretary  of  War.  The  letter  stated  that  Mr. 
William  H.  Hurlburt,  who  was  a  prisoner  in  Libby 
Prison,  having  been  captured  at  Harper's  Ferry 
in  the  early  part  of  the  war,  was  entirely  in  sym 
pathy  with  the  rebel  cause,  and  that  he  was  so 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          12$ 

outspoken  in  his  expressions  before  he  was  cap 
tured,  that  his  friends  felt  compelled  to  restrain 
him  ;  and  the  writer  suggested  to  Mr.  Benjamin 
that  Hurlburt  should  be  released.  This  letter 
was  referred  to  me,  and  I  made  the  following  en 
dorsement  upon  it,  and,  sent  it  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  : 

"  It  appears  to  this  command  that  so  long  as 
the  rebels  will  keep  this  man  Hurlburt  in  con 
finement,  it  saves  us  the  necessity  of  doing  it.  It 
is  further  suggested  that  the  author  of  this  letter 
should  be  put  under  Government  surveillance." 


CHAPTER  X. 

FLAGS    OF    TRUCE,    SPIES,    AND    CONTRABAND  ; 
VARIOUS  INCIDENTS. 

IN  the  early  stages  of  the  war  we  were  very 
charitable  in  permitting  people  to  pass  our  lines 
from  the  North  to  go  into  rebel  territory.  It 
seemed  to  have  been  the  policy  at  Washington  — 
perhaps  a  wise  one — that  all  disloyal  people  in  the 
North  who  desired  to  go  to  the  South  should 
have  liberty  to  go  there.  The  only  gate  open  be 
tween  the  North  and  the  South  was  at  Fort  Mon 
roe,  and  the  commanding  General  there  had  full 
discretion  of  giving  or  refusing  permission  to  pass 
the  lines.  There  were  numerous  instances  of 
persons  coming  down  there  bearing  requests  from 
the  State  and  War  Departments  to  the  command 
ing  General  that  they  be  permitted  to  pass  through. 

A  number  of  ladies  of  high  social  position, 
whose  families  were  Southerners,  and  not  a  few 
of  whom  had  been  known  socially  by  General 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          I2/ 

Wool  in  Washington,  came  down  with  these  cre 
dentials,  and  were,  of  course,  permitted  to  pass 
the  lines.  Some  of  these  ladies  returned  later 
from  the  South,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  a  sus 
picion  was  excited  that  they  were  spies. 

One  lady  in  particular  attracted  my  suspicion. 
She  was  an  exceedingly  attractive,  fascinating 
woman,  and  a  former  acquaintance  of  General 
Wool.  She  came  with  a  request  from  General 
Scott  that  she  be  permitted  to  pass  the  lines.  She 
bestowed  great  attention  on  General  Wool,  and 
was  profuse  in  her  expressions  of  admiration  for 
him  in  every  way  ;  and  the  General  was  by  no 
means  insensible  to  her  attentions,  as  he  had  a 
certain  chivalry  toward  the  fair  sex.  Suspecting 
that  this  woman  was  a  spy,  I  cautioned  the  Gen 
eral  against  her,  but  he  resented  my  warning  as 
an  imputation  on  his  sagacity,  and  as  an  intima 
tion  that  he  did  not  thoroughly  understand  all  the 
ways  of  women. 

But  I  was  unconvinced  of  her  innocence,  and 
believing  that  she  would  return  and  request  the 
liberty  to  go  North,  I  decided  to  take  measures 
to  determine  her  purpose,  and  instructed  the 


128          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

Provost  Marshal  to  be  on  his  guard  for  her 
return. 

Every  person  coming  from  within  the  rebel 
lines  was  compelled  to  report  at  the  Provost  Mar 
shal's  quarters,  and  to  declare  that  they  were  not 
disloyal  to  the  Government,  and  that  they  con 
veyed  no  mail  or  contraband  of  war.  If  their 
statements  were  distrusted  they  were  compelled 
to  submit  to  a  personal  examination  before  they 
were  permitted  to  go  North. 

In  a  few  weeks  this  woman  reported  to  the 
Provost  Marshal,  having  come  over  from  Norfolk 
under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  received  a  passport  per 
mitting  her  to  proceed  by  the  steamer  that  night 
to  Baltimore.  Meanwhile  two  women  detectives, 
wives  of  soldiers,  had  been  put  on  board  this 
transport  as  cabin-maids.  A  soldier  detective,  in 
citizen's  dress,  was  also  assigned  to  duty  on  the 
boat,  and  was  especially  instructed  by  the  Provost 
Marshal  to  keep  a  watch  on  this  woman. 

In  the  course  of  the  passage  the  soldier  detec 
tive  managed  to  introduce  himself  to  the  lady, 
and  asked  her  if  she  did  not  come  over  with  him 
in  the  flag  of  truce  boat  from  Norfolk  the  day 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  I2Q 

previous.  He  apprehended  that  he  would  be  de 
tained,  he  said,  and  felt  much  relieved,  as  he  was 
now  on  his  safe  passage  North,  thus  intimating  to 
the  lady  that  he  was  in  the  rebel  service.  This 
apparent  confidence  of  his  inspired  a  confidence 
on  the  part  of  the  woman,  and  she  confessed  to 
him  that  she  also  was  in  the  rebel  service. 

The  following  morning,  before  the  arrival  of  the 
steamer  at  Baltimore,  this  woman,  on  coming  into 
the  cabin,  was  accosted  by  the  two  detective  cabin- 
maids,  and  told  that  she  must  submit  to  a  personal 
search.  The  male  detective  was  meanwhile 
secreted  behind  a  curtain  near  by.  The  lady, 
with  a  great  show  of  indignation,  resented  their 
demand,  when  the  women  seized  her  and  the  man 
came  from  behind  the  curtain  and  confounded  her. 
She  finally  consented  to  a  search,  and  nearly  five 
hundred  letters  were  found  concealed  in  her  dress 
and  skirts.  Furthermore,  there  was  found  on  her 
a  commission  from  the  rebel  government  to  her 
husband,  in  Baltimore,  appointing  him  surgeon 
in  the  rebel  army.  The  woman  was  detained  on 
board  the  transport,  and  members  of  the  Provost 
guard  in  Baltimore  were  sent  to  arrest  her  hus- 


130          REMINISCENCES    OE   THE    REBELLION. 

band,  and  then  both  she  and  her  husband  were 
returned  to  Fort  Monroe. 

The  officer  reported  to  me,  and  I  reported  the 
results  to  the  General,  and  I  have  to  confess  that 
the  General  was  a  little  indignant  at  my  success. 

On  one  occasion  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  P.  B.  Wilmer, 
then  recently  rector  of  one  of  the  principal  Episco 
pal  churches  in  Philadelphia,  and  later  Bishop  of 
Louisiana,  came  to  Fort  Monroe  with  his  family, 
desiring  to  pass  the  lines  into  Virginia.  His  wife 
was  a  Virginia  lady,  a  Miss  Skipworth,  belonging 
to  one  of  the  influential  and  wealthy  families  of 
Virginia.  Sympathizing  with  his  wife's  senti 
ments,  he  was  intensely  disloyal,  and  so  outspoken 
was  he  in  his  disloyalty  that  his  parish  demanded 
his  resignation.  He  was  compelled  to  resign, 
and  the  bishop  of  his  diocese  refused  to  permit  his 
being  appointed  to  another  parish  within  his  juris 
diction.  Under  these  circumstances,  Dr.  Wilmer 
desired  to  go  into  the  rebel  lines.  The  Govern 
ment,  in  pursuance  of  its  wise  policy  with  disloyal 
and  doubtful  men,  had  no  hesitation  in  granting 
his  request. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  131 

He  appeared  at  Fort  Monroe  with  a  request 
from  the  Secretary  of  State  to  General  Wool  that 
he  be  permitted  to  go  to  Norfolk.  In  the  permit 
occurred  the  statement,  "  On  business  of  the  Gov 
ernment."  On  Dr.  Wilmer  delivering  this  re 
quest  from  the  Department  of  State,  General  Wool 
noticed  the  endorsement  and  said  :  "  You  are  on 
the  business  of  the  Government?"  Dr.  Wilmer 
protested  that  that  was  not  so,  and  that  he  himself 
had  objected  to  the  statement  being  incorporated 
in  the  order.  General  Wool  still  felt  that  possi 
bly  he  might  be  a  Federal  spy,  and  the  order  was 
issued  to  me,  as  bearer  of  the  flag  of  truce,  to  take 
him  to  Norfolk. 

We  had  instituted  a  system  of  declaring  every 
thing  that  we  felt  the  rebels  wanted  to  be  contra 
band  of  war*  and  prohibiting  its  being  introduced 
into  their  lines.  A  printed  list  of  the  articles  so 
prohibited  was  made  up,  and  as  we  learned  from 
time  to  time  that  they  were  in  need  of  any  mate 
rial,  it  was  added  to  the  list.  It  was  customary  to 
hand  this  list  to  every  one  who  was  going  over. 
Notable  among  the  articles  prohibited  were 


132          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

money,   silver,    gold,    or   other   valuables,    arms, 
and  gray  cloth. 

After  getting  under  way,  one  of  my  orderlies 
presented  the  list  to  Dr.  Wilmer,  informing  him 
that  if  there  was  anything  among  his  luggage 
that  was  mentioned  on  the  list  it  would  not  be 
permitted  to  go  within  the  rebel  lines.  Dr.  Wil 
mer  had  some  eighteen  trunks  with  him.  After 
examining  the  list,  he  said  to  the  orderly  that  he 
was  not  aware  that  he  had  anything  contraband 
of  war  among  his  luggage,  possibly  supposing 
that  his  declaration  was  sufficient.  Shortly  after 
this  he  was  requested  to  surrender  his  keys.  Upon 
opening  his  trunks  the  orderlies  reported  to  me 
that  his  baggage  was  filled  with  contraband  of 
war.  I  proceeded  to  make  an  examination,  and 
found  that  this  was  so.  I  felt  not  a  little  embar 
rassed  and  indignant  that  a  clergyman  of  the 
church  to  which  I  was  attached  should  have  made 

so  careless-  a  declaration.     I  went  to  Dr.  Wilmer 

j 

and  told  him  that  I  confessed  I  was  surprised  at 
his  declaration,  which  was  disproved  by  the  ex 
amination,  and  informed  him  that  I  should  have 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          133 

to  confiscate  his  entire  luggage,  without  discrimi 
nation. 

Another  gentleman,  a  Mr.  Washington,  who 
was  also  going  over,  hearing  my  declaration,  was 
very  indignant,  and  denounced  it  as  an  outrage 
ous  act  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Government  in 
making  war  upon  innocent  women  and  children. 
1  demanded  of  him  an  immediate  apology  to  me, 
as  an  officer,  or  I  would  put  him  under  arrest  and 
take  him  back  to  Fort  Monroe.  He  made  an 
apology  rather  speedily. 

On  meeting  the  rebel  flag  of  truce  to  deliver 
these  people,  they  protested  at  what  they  called 
the  cruelty  which  I  had  practised,  and  Colonel 
Singleton,  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  rebel  flag 
of  truce,  suggested  that  he  hoped  I  had  not  been 
harsh.  I  suggested  to  him  that  neither  he  nor 
any  other  rebel  was  a  proper  critic  of  my  conduct, 
although  our  personal  relations  were  friendly. 
Dr.  Wilmer  and  his  family  were  turned  over  to 
the  officer,  but  all  of  their  luggage  was  brought 
back  to  Fort  Monroe. 

This  incident  occurred  a  few  days  previous  to 


134         REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

the  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  to 
negotiate  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners.  At  the 
first  meeting  General  Huger  stated  to  General 
Wool  that,  without  undertaking  to  judge  of  the 
merits  of  the  case,  he  would  like  to  submit  to  him 
that  Dr.  Wilmer's  family  were  grievous  sufferers 
for  the  want  of  clothing,  and  asked  that  General 
Wool  would  consent  that  some  of  their  clothing, 
proper  personal  apparel,  might  be  taken  for  the 
use  of  Dr.  Wilmer's  wife  and  her  family.  I  imme 
diately  urged  General  Wool  to  grant  the  request. 
Dr.  Wilmer  was  on  board  their  boat,  on  which 
the  meeting  was  held,  and  we  took  him  aboard 
our  vessel  and  brought  him  to  Fort  Monroe. 

I  had  his  luggage  brought  out  and  opened.  He 
asked  for  three  trunks  of  clothing.  The  poor 
man,  when  he  came  to  examine  the  luggage,  was 
so  ignorant  of  women's  apparel,  that  he  really 
did  not  know  what  to  take  and  what  to  leave.  I 
assisted  him,  and  determined  to  let  him  have 
everything  that  was  not  strictly  contraband  of 
war.  I  had  the  orderly  repack  trunk  after  trunk, 
Dr.  Wilmer  protesting  that  I  was  giving  him  a 
great  deal  more  than  he  had  asked,  and  I  suggest- 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION.          135 

ing  that  it  was  my  responsibility  rather  than  his, 
until  I  had  given  him  fifteen  or  sixteen  out  of  the 
eighteen  trunks.  For  all  this  he  was  exceedingly 
grateful,  his  feelings  of  animosity  at  my  seeming 
severity  giving  place  to  expressions  of  most  effu 
sive  regard  for  my  generosity. 

In  the  year  1872  I  visited,  with  my  family,  the 
city  of  New  Orleans.  In  the  mean  time,  Dr.  Wil- 
mer  had  been  made  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of 
Louisiana.  Going  to  church  one  Sunday  and  ask 
ing  the  sexton  for  seats,  he  gave  us  seats  down 
nearly  at  the  entrance  of  the  church,  where  it  was 
cold  and  draughty.  It  was  in  the  winter  season 
and  very  cold,  and  the  church  was  not  heated. 
There  were  very  few  people  in  the  church,  and 
1  asked  the  sexton  if  he  could  not  give  me  seats 
nearer  the  altar,  which  seemed  to  be  vacant.  He 
said  those  seats  might  possibly  be  occupied  later 
by  regular  attendants.  The  church  was  so  cold, 
that  after  the  first  or  second  lesson  I  got  up  to 
leave  with  my  family,  and  remarked  to  the  sexton  : 
'  You  are  not  as  courteous  to  your  visitors  here 
as  we  are  to  strangers  in  the  North." 

Recognizing  the  rebuke,  he  said  :   "  I  beg  your 


136         REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

pardon,  but  if  you  will  remain,  1  will  look  and 
see  if  there  is  anybody  in  the  bishop's  seats." 

I  said  to  him  :  "  I  think  if  the  Bishop  of  Louisi 
ana  knew  that  I  was  standing  in  the  vestibule  of 
his  church,  I  should  be  welcome  to  a  seat." 

He  immediately  took  us  and  put  us  in  the 
bishop's  pew.  After  the  service  the  sexton  ap 
proached  and  asked  if  I  would  give  him  my  ad 
dress,  which  I  did. 

The  following  day  I  was  called  upon  by  Bishop 
and  Mrs.  Wilmer,  and  the  meeting  was  a  very 
pleasant  and  enjoyable  one.  They  were  afterward 
very  attentive  to  us,  and  did  everything  in  their 
power  to  make  the  visit  of  myself  and  family  in 
New  Orleans  pleasurable. 

The  large  hotel  outside  Fort  Monroe,  the 
Hygeia,  was  taken  by  the  Government  and  used 
as  a  field  hospital.  A  large  number  of  soldier 
patients  were  in  this  hospital,  many  suffering 
from  wounds,  but  more  from  malarious  disease, 
and  typhoid  fevpr  was  quite  prevalent. 

Early  one  very  foggy  morning  in  the  winter  of 
1862  an  insane  patient  escaped  from  the  hospital, 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.          137 

and  clad  only  in  his  hospital  clothing,  rushed  up  to 
the  drawbridge  at  the  entrance  to  the  fort.  The 
sentinel  on  duty  at  the  outer  end  of  the  draw 
bridge,  across  the  moat,  was  so  surprised  and 
frightened  at  the  appearance  of  the  insane  man, 
that  he  fled  across  the  drawbridge  into  the  fort 
crying,  "  A  ghost  !  A  ghost  !" 

The  lunatic  followed  him,  and  the  guard  on 
duty  were  taken  with  the  same  panic  as  the  senti 
nel,  and  they  also  fled  before  him.  The  lunatic 
entered  the  fort  and  was  attracted  by  a  staircase, 
which  led  up  to  the  officers'  quarters.  He  went 
up  these  stairs,  and  entered  a  room  where  an 
officer  was  dressing.  The  officer  also  was  seized 
with  panic,  and  in  his  efforts  to  get  away  from 
the  lunatic,  jumped  out  of  a  second-story  window. 

Having  captured  the  fort,  the  lunatic  proceeded 
on  his  way  through  it,  with  every  one  flying 
before  him.  He  entered  the  quarters  of  Colonel 
Cram,  of  the  Engineers,  who  also  was  dressing. 
Colonel  Cram  was  a  very  self-possessed  man,  but  he 
naturally  was  disconcerted  at  this  violent  entrance 
of  a  wild-looking  man  in  his  night-dress  into  his 
room.  The  lunatic  carried  a  big  bar  of  iron  in 


138          REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

his  hand,  and  brandishing  this  at  Colonel   Cram, 
he  cried  : 

"  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  I  command  you  to  come  with  me.  Your 
time  has  come  !" 

Colonel  Cram,  apprehending  'violence,  inter 
posed  a  table  between  himself  and  the  lunatic,  and 
replied  with  great  coolness  : 

'  You  will  permit  me  to  dress  before  I  go  with 
you." 

The  lunatic  replied  :  "  It  is  of  no  consequence 
whether  you  go  into  eternity  dressed  or  un 
dressed.  You  will  go  with  me  now."  And  he 
followed  up  the  remark  by  seizing  Colonel  Cram 
across  the  table.  A  terrific  struggle  ensued,  Col 
onel  Cram  seizing  the  man's  right  arm  to  prevent 
being  struck  with  the  bar  of  iron.  The  violence 
of  the  lunatic,  and  his  unnatural  strength,  was 
overcoming  the  Colonel,  when,  with  one  vigorous 
effort,  he  threw  the  lunatic  off  and  away  from 
him,  and  managed  to  get  possession  of  his  sword. 
He  drew  his  sword  and  was  in  the  act  of  running 
the  lunatic  through  when  a  file  of  soldiers  rushed 
into  the  room  and  seized  the  man. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  139 

Thus  was  this  great  fort  captured  by  a  solitary 
lunatic.  The  incident  resulted  in  a  court-martial, 
and  the  sentinel  was  convicted  and  ordered  to  be 
shot.  The  sentence,  however,  was  never  carried 
out.  The  officer  of  the  guard  was  suspended  from 
duty  for  some  time. 

Early  in  January,  1862,  a  captain  in  the  English 
Army,  whose  regiment  was  stationed  in  Canada, 
was  sent  by  the  War  Department  to  General 
Wool  with  a  notification  that  the  officer  had  vol 
unteered  for  the  secret  service  as  a  spy,  possibly 
actuated  by  a  spirit  of  adventure,  but  with  no  un 
willingness  to  securing  pecuniary  reward.  The 
English  being  in  high  feather  with  the  rebel  gov 
ernment  at  that  time,  it  was  assumed  that  he 
would  be  received  with  confidence  by  the  enemy. 
Receiving  his  instructions  from  General  Wool,  he 
was  sent  to  Norfolk  by  a  flag  of  truce. 

Nothing  was  heard  from  him  for  a  period  of 
nearly  two  months,  and  we  began  to  be  apprehen 
sive  that  he  was  in  the  rebel  service  and  not  in 
ours.  In  the  latter  part  of  February,  however, 
he  arrived  at  Fort  Monroe  by  flag  of  truce  from 


I4O          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

Norfolk,  and  reported  at  headquarters.  He  stated 
that  he  had  been  cordially  received  by  the  rebels, 
and  had  just  left  General  Beauregard's  command 
at  Manassas.  Beauregard's  command,  he  said, 
consisted  of  about  thirty-eight  thousand  men  of 
all  arms.  Stonewall  Jackson  was  to  move  the  fol 
lowing  week  with  about  seventeen  thousand  men, 
or  one  half  of  the  command,  through  the  Shenan- 
doah  Valley,  and  attack  General  Lander's  com 
mand  with  headquarters  at  Harper's  Ferry.  Lan 
der's  force,  of  about  ten  thousand  strong,  was 
guarding  the  head  of  the  valley,  and  was  engaged 
in  restoring  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad, 
which  had  been  torn  up  by  the  rebels.  His  com 
mand  was  practically  the  right  wing  of  McClel- 
lan's  army. 

The  English  officer  was  at  once  sent  forward  to 
the  War  Department  under  surveillance,  and  a 
copy  of  his  report  to  us  was  also  sent  by  a  bearer  of 
despatches, as  we  had  not  full  confidence  in  the  spy's 
integrity.  His  information  was,  however,  fully 
verified  by  results.  Jackson's  force  did  move  into 
the  valley,  attacking  Lander  and  driving  his  forces 
out,  in  which  action  Lander  was  fatally  wounded, 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION.          141 

and  died  a  few  days  after  the  battle  in  the  house 
of  his  friend,  Mr.  John  Fox  Potter,  M.C.  These 
disastrous  results,  occurring-  with  the  War  Office 
entirely  informed  of  the  movement,  and  with  the 
ample  forces  at  McClellan's  command,  begat  in 
our  department  a  general  distrust  of  the  War 
Office,  and  formed  another  of  the  amazing  blun 
ders  and  disasters  in  the  history  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac. 

In  1866  Mr.  Potter,  then  Consul-General  of  the 
United  States  at  Montreal,  visited  me  at  Burling 
ton,  Vt.  This  gentleman  was  known  as  "  Bowie- 
Knife  Potter,"  from  the  famous  incident  of  his  ac 
ceptance  of  a  challenge  from  the  present  Judge 
Pryor,  of  Virginia,  and  offering  to  fight  him  with 
bowie-knives  with  twelve-inch  blades,  the  duellists 
to  stand  three  feet  apart,  an  offer  which  the  fire- 
eating  Virginian  declined  on  the  ground  that  the 
bowie-knife  was  a  barbarous  weapon.  During 
Mr.  Potter's  visit  I  referred  to  the  death  of  the 
gallant  Lander,  and  told  him  that  the  War  Office 
and  McCiellan  were  fully  advised  by  the  spy  of 
Jackson's  movements. 

Mr.  Potter  with  no  little   excitement  then  told 


142          REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

me  that  General  Lander  had  been  most  loyal  to 
McClellan,  and  that  he  had  asked  him,  when  he 
lay  dying  in  his  house,  how  the  defeat  had  oc 
curred.  General  Lander  related  that  McClellan 
left  Washington  and  came  to  his  headquarters, 
knowing  of  Jackson's  advance,  and  arranged  with 
him  to  meet  Jackson's  forces  ;  that  Jackson's 
forces  appeared  in  front  of  Lander's  lines  late  in 
the  afternoon,  and  that  McClellan  had  made  every 
disposition  for  the  battle  the  following  morning, 
McClellan  staying  with  Lander  at  his  headquar 
ters.  Lander  left  his  headquarters  and  went  to 
the  front  before  daylight.  Soon  after  Jackson's 
advance  on  his  lines,  and  after  an  hour  or  two  at 
long  range,  Jackson  massed  his  forces,  which  were 
superior,  and  broke  through  Lander's  lines,  over 
whelming  and  defeating  him.  Lander  expected 
every  moment  that  McClellan  would  appear  and 
direct  the  movement,  and  that  he  would  be  rein 
forced  from  McCall's  division,  which  consisted  of 
eleveai  thousand  men,  and  was  within  ten  miles  of 
him.  But  McClellan  did  not  appear  on  the  field. 
It  appeared  that  he  left  Lander's  headquarters 
about  midnight  without  Lander  knowing  it,  and 


G  O 

x  > 

c  3 

w  r 

o 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          143 

went  over  to  McCall's  division,  but  did  not  order 
up  any  support,  although  McCall's  forces  were 
within  sound  of  Lander's  guns. 

Mr.  Potter,  in  reply  to  this  statement  by  Gen 
eral  Lander,  said  to  him  : 

'  Your  statement  is  almost  incredible,  General. 
How  do  you  account  for  the  matter  ?" 

Raising  himself  in  his  bed,  General  Lander  re 
plied  : 

McClellan  is  a  damned  traitor  and  a  coward." 

And  poor  Lander  died  of    chagrin  more  than 
from  the  effects  of  his  wound. 


CHAPTER   XL 

MCCLELLAN'S  CAMPAIGN  ON  THE  PENINSULA. 

McCLELLAN's  inactivity  in  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  and  the  defences  of  Wash 
ington,  and  his  refusal  to  attack  the  rebel  army  at 
Manassas,  induced  the  President  to  issue  an  im 
perative  order  that  his  forces  should  move.  He 
then  determined  to  change  his  base  and  advance 
on  Richmond  from  the  Rappahannock  River. 
Subsequently  he  determined  to  make  his  basis  the 
York  River,  the  condition  being  made  by  the 
President  that  he  should  leave  a  sufficient  force 
to  ensure  the  defence  of  Washington.  General 
McDowell  was  detailed  in  command  of  a  force  of 
30,000  men  to  protect  Washington. 

McCleilan's  forces  were  then  sent  to  Fort  Mon 
roe,  by  way  of  the  Chesapeake,  and  he  landed  at 
Fort  Monroe  his  first  division  of  about  20,000  men 
under  General  Heintzelman.  Gradually  McClei 
lan's  forces  advanced  and  took  up  a  position  on 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.  145 

the  York  River,  at  a  point  about  six  or  eight  miles 
from  Yorktown,  known  as  Ship  Point,  which  had 
the  advantage  of  an  excellent  harbor.  All  the 
additions  to  his  army  were  landed  at  Ship  Point, 
and  there  encamped  to  advance  on  Yorktown, 
then  in  command  of  General  Magruder,  and  un 
derstood  to  be  very  heavily  fortified.  McClellan 
remained  on  board  a  transport  at  Georgetown  for 
a  fortnight  after  his  troops  had  been  sent  down, 
and,  as  subsequently  proved,  he  remained  there, 
demanding  of  the  administration  that  General 
Wool  should  report  to  him  on  his  arrival  in  the 
Department  of  Virginia. 

Although  McClellan  was  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  Army,  he  was  inferior  in  rank,  by  date  of 
commission,  to  Major-General  Wool,  and  not  only 
duty  but  etiquette  demanded  that  he  should  re 
port  to  General  Wool,  as  ranking  officer,  when 
he  came  into  his  department.  This  was  strictly 
a  mere  matter  of  vanity  on  the  part  of  General 
McClellan,  and  embarrassed  the  administration 
greatly,  so  much  so  that  the  First  Assistant  Sec 
retary  of  War,  Mr.  Scott,  came  to  Fort  Monroe 
with  a  view  to  reconciling  these  counter  demands 


146          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

of  Generals  McClellan  and  Wool.  General  Wool, 
with  his  usual  sagacity  and  shrewdness,  and  hav 
ing  no  confidence  whatever  in  McClellan's  mili 
tary  abilities,  was  insensible  to  the  demand,  and 
said  to  me,  in  confidence,  that  if  General  Mc 
Clellan  came  into  his  department  and  did  not  re 
port  to  him,  he  would  put  him  under  arrest. 

Appreciating  the  jealousies  that  existed  in  the 
army,  and  the  serious  scandals  that  might  result, 
I  obtained  leave  of  absence  from  General  Wool, 
and  went  to  Washington.  There  I  called  upon 
our  two  Senators  from  the  State  of  New  York, 
Mr.  Harris  and  Mr.  King,  and  also  on  two  or 
three  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
who  were  on  the  Military  Committee,  and  con 
fidentially  explained  to  them  the  condition  of 
affairs.  They  were  exceedingly  indignant  at  this 
demand  of  McClellan's,  and  took  me  to  the  Presi 
dent.  I  explained  the  matter  to  the  President, 
and  suggested  to  him  that  General  Wool  was  a 
man  who  had  rendered  great  service  to  his  coun 
try,  was  the  oldest  officer  in  the  army,  a  Demo 
crat,  but  intensely  loyal  ;  that  the  people  of  the 
North  had  great  confidence  in  him,  and  that  any 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          147 

act  to  degrade  him  would  certainly  be  resented. 
The  President  was  very  non-committal.  He 
said  that  we  must  at  once  go  and  see  the  Secre 
tary  of  War.  He  gave  us  a  letter  to  the  Sec 
retary  of  War  requesting  him  to  see  us  imme 
diately. 

Before  going  to  the  War  Office,  I  told  these 
gentlemen  that  I  had  no  business  going  to  the 
War  Office,  as  there  was  a  general  order  that  if 
any  officer  appeared  in  Washington  except  under 
orders,  he  was  liable  to  arrest. 

"Now,"  I  said  to  them,  "if  the  Secretary  is 
quick  enough  to  see  this,  and  suggest  that  I  am 
subject  to  arrest,  what  am  I  to  do  ?" 

They  said  they  would  see  that  I  was  not  troubled 
on  that  score. 

'  Very  well,"  I  said,  "  I  am  willing  to  risk  any 
thing  for  the  sake  of  the  army." 

On  arriving  at  the  War  Office,  we  found  that, 
unfortunately,  it  was  what  was  called  "  Congres 
sional  Day" — Saturday — a  day  on  which  the  Sec 
retary  of  War  received  Members  of  Congress 
who  were  soliciting  him  for  appointments,  pro 
motions,  and  all  sorts  of  things.  The  Secretary 


148          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

was  naturally  of  an  excitable,  irritable  nature,  and 
it  was  a  very  bad  day  for  us  to  see  him  on  the 
mission  we  were  about.  We  were  accorded  prece 
dence  over  all  other  callers,  and  were  escorted 
into  his  private  room. 

The  Secretary  asked  the  object  of  our  call. 
The  gentlemen  with  me  stated  that  General  Wool 
was  embarrassed  to  understand  what  were  the 
desires  of  the  War  Office  in  reference  to  his  com 
mand  and  to  General  McClellan's  command.  In 
great  irritation,  Secretary  Stanton  turned  to  me 
and  said  : 

"  Can  General  Wool  read  English  ?" 

"  Mr.  Secretary,"  I  said,  "  as  your  correspond 
ence  with  the  General  has  been  rather  extensive, 
it  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  reply  to  that 
question." 

"  Are  you  a  bearer  of  despatches  ?"  he 
asked. 

"  No,  I  am  not,  sir,"  I  replied. 

"  What  business  have  you  in  Washington  or  at 
the  War  Office,  then  ?"  he  demanded. 

"  I  am  here  on  leave  of  absence,"  I  said. 

"  In  that  case,"  he  replied,  "  you  are  violating 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.          149 

orders,  and  are  under  arrest.     Report  yourself  at 
once  to  the  Adjutant-General." 

The  gentlemen  with  me  interposed  in  my  behalf, 
saying  that  they  had  induced  me  to  come,  although 
I  had  protested  that  I  had  no  right  to  be  there. 

Secretary  Stanton  said  severely  :  '  It  is  this 
constant  interference  with  the  army  by  Members 
of  Congress  that  is  demoralizing  the  service  to  a 
great  degree.  If  Members  of  Congress  would 
interfere  less  with  the  army,  the  discipline  would 
be  very  much  better  and  the  results  very  differ 
ent." 

I  left  the  room,  and  reported  to  the  Adjutant- 
General,  under  arrest.  My  quarters  were  at  Wil- 
lard's  Hotel.  Adjutant-General  Townsend  said 
he  was  very  much  surprised  to  see  me  there  under 
such  circumstances,  and  asked  what  the  trouble 
was.  While  I  was  talking  with  him  an  orderly 
came  in  and  requested  me  to  return  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War.  I  returned  with  him,  and  the  Sec 
retary  asked  me  : 

'  What  more  have  you  to  say,  sir  ?" 

"  Nothing  more,  Mr.  Secretary,"  I  said  ;  "  my 
lips  are  sealed  under  arrest." 


150          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

"  You  are  relieved  from  arrest,  then,  Colonel," 
he  said. 

Then  I  told  him  all  the  circumstances  and  con 
ditions.  I  said  that  General  Wool  took  the  posi 
tion  that  he  had  not  any  right  to  degrade  his  rank 
by  reporting  to  his  junior  officer. 

"  Just  as  certain  as  McClellan  goes  down  there 
and  does  not  report  to  him,"  I  said,  "  General 
Wool  will  put  him  under  arrest.  Not  only  that, 
but  he  will  be  justified  by  any  trial  by  court-martial. 
General  Wool  says  this  is  very  unnecessary,  and  he 
will  not  be  humiliated  or  degraded.  He  recog 
nizes  the  right  to  be  relieved  of  his  command,  and 
if  another  officer,  an  inferior  in  rank,  is  appointed 
to  relieve  him,  that  would  settle  the  situation. 
But  if  an  imperative  order  comes  for  him  to  re 
port  to  McClellan,  he  will  resign  from  the  service." 

"  General  Wool  has  no  better  friend  in  this 
country  than  I  am,"  said  Secretary  Stanton, 
"  but  if  he  resigns  I  will  accept  his  resignation  ; 
but  I  won't  relieve  him  of  his  command.  I  am 
not  going  to  trust  the  armies  of  the  United  States 
and  the  key  of  the  Union  under  the  control  of  any 
one  man." 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          151 

The  conference  then  terminated,  except  that  as 
we  left  the  Secretary  said  : 
'  When  do  you  return,  sir  ?  ' 

I  was  ill  at  the  time,  and  I  said  :  "  I  am  on  leave 
of  absence,  and  am  going  to  New  York  ;  but  as 
General  Wool  is  going  to  be  relieved,  I  shall  ten 
der  my  resignation.  My  service  is  a  personal  ser 
vice  rather  than  anything  else." 

"  I  want  you  to  dine  with  me  this  evening," 
said  Secretary  Stanton. 

"  I  will  do  so  with  the  greatest  pleasure,  Mr. 
Secretary,"  I  said,  "  but  I  should  like  to  go  to 
my  family  in  New  York." 

The  Secretary  then  said  :  "  Your  resignation 
will  not  be  accepted.  The  department  cannot 
afford  to  lose  an  officer  by  resigning  who  is  serv 
ing  his  country  under  the  conditions  that  you 
are." 

In  all  my  subsequent  relations  with  Mr.  Stan- 
ton,  although  his  imperative  manner  was  of  a 
kind  that  begat  irritation,  he  treated  me  with  the 
greatest  consideration  and  kindness. 

The  result  of  the  negotiation  was  that  the  Sec 
retary  undoubtedly  saw  the  President  of  the 


152         REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

United  States,  and  told  him  that  McClellan's  de 
mand  was  simply  absurd,  and  an  imperative  order 
was  issued  to  McClellan  the  very  next  day  to 
join  his  command  on  the  Peninsula  and  report  to 
General  Wool,  which  he  did.  He  simply  re 
ported,  breakfasted  with  us,  and  moved  on  to  his 
command.  His  army  had  been  kept  for  ten  days 
inactive,  solely  to  gratify  McClellan's  vanity. 

Then  followed  the  terrible  series  of  disasters  of 
McClellan's  campaign  on  the  Peninsula.  Al 
though  he  had  command  of  a  largely  superior 
force  to  that  of  the  rebels,  he  was  practically 
beaten  in  every  engagement  ;  and  finally,  as  is  a 
record  of  history,  he  was  compelled  to  abandon 
the  Peninsula. 

McClellan's  forces— about  120,000  men— invest 
ed  Yorktown,  remaining  in  front  of  the  city  some 
eight  or  ten  days,  erecting  works,  \vithout,  ex 
cept  on  one  occasion,  ever  feeling  of  the  enemy. 
The  lines  of  investment  extended  from  the  York 
River  to  the  James  River,  entirely  across  the 
Peninsula. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE   PRESIDENT  AT    FORT   MONROE,    AND   CAPTURE 
OF  NORFOLK. 

WHILE  McClellan  was  in  front  of  Yorktown,  the 
President  and  Secretary  of  War  and  Mr.  Chase, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury — practically  the  admin 
istration — came  down  and  took  up  their  quarters 
at  Fort  Monroe,  staying  with  us  at  headquarters. 
The  evening  of  their  arrival  Yorktown  was  evacu 
ated,  and  the  enemy  retreated  upon  Williamsburg, 
pursued  by  McClellan's  forces.  The  latter  had 
an  engagement  at  Williamsburg  with  the  rear 
guard  of  Lee's  army,  and  suffered  severely,  losing 
about  1800  men.  The  news  of  the  battle  reached 
Fort  Monroe  that  evening,  previous  to  the  arrival 
of  the  President.  The  enemy  meanwhile  was  re 
treating  up  the  Peninsula. 

On  the  party's  arrival  in  a  revenue  cutter,  I 
boarded  the  vessel  and  reported  to  the  Presi 
dent  the  results  of  the  engagement,  for  we  had  no 


154         REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

notice  of  his  coming,  and  suggested  that  the  party 
should  come  to  headquarters  within  the  fort,  a 
messenger  being  despatched  to  the  General,  who 
came  down  with  his  staff  to  meet  them  and  escort 
them  to  the  fort. 

The  navy,  in  command  of  Admiral  Goldsbor- 
ough,  had  repeatedly  refused  to  co-operate  with 
us  in  making  an  effort  to  take  Norfolk,  and  this 
was  the  real  reason  of  the  President  and  Secretary 
of  War  coming  down,  their  object  being  to  estab 
lish  harmony  of  action  between  the  army  and 
navy.  General  Wool  represented  to  the  Presi 
dent  that  he  could  do  nothing  with  his  army,  ex 
cept  he  had  a  naval  force  to  cover  his  landing 
upon  the  opposite  shore.  The  result  was  that 
they  proceeded  off  to  the  flagship  at  once, 
meeting  Admiral  Goldsborough  with  General 
Wool,  and  from  there  issued  an  order  that  night 
that  the  navy  should  go  into  action  next  day  and 
bombard  the  forts  of  the  Elizabeth  River,  Sewell's 
Point,  and  Craney  Island.  Wool  said  to  the 
President  : 

'  If  you  will  order  the   navy  to  co-operate  with 
me,  I  will  take  Norfolk  in  three  davs." 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          155 

The  naval  vessels  went  into  action  next  day, 
and  in  less  than  two  hours  silenced  the  forts. 
Then  the  Merrimack  appeared  for  the  second 
time.  The  naval  vessels  at  once  retired  from 
action,  notwithstanding  the  four  large  rams  we 
had  there  for  the  express  purpose  of  destroying 
the  Merrimack.  Nothing  could  be  more  humili- 

o 

ating  than  this  exhibition  on  the  part  of  the  com 
mander  of  the  navy.  So  conspicuous  was  this 
irresolute  act,  that  it  caused  the  relief  of  Admiral 
Goldsborough  from  the  command  in  a  few  days, 
and  an  order  from  the  President  that  his  war  ves 
sels  should  go  up  the  James  River  and  assist 
McClellan  by  bombarding  the  forts  up  on  Drury's 
Bluff. 

General  Wool  determined  to  make  an  advance 
on  Norfolk,  and  had  secured  a  large  number  of 
big  canal-boats  that  had  brought  down  the  cavalry 
and  mules  of  McClellan's  command.  On  these  he 
proposed  to  embark  about  10,000  men  and  land 
them  at  a  place  called  Pleasure  House  Beach, 
which  was  the  most  accessible  point  to  the  east 
ward  of  Norfolk,  and  to  take  the  rebel  works. 
General  Wool's  troops  had  never  been  brigaded, 


156         REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

and  I  sat  up  all  night  with  him  making  details  of 
the  regiments  that  were  to  go.  The  information 
we  had  received  was  that  General  Huger  had 
about  20,000  men  in  Norfolk,  inside  defences.  I 
suggested  to  General  Wool  that  as  his  troops 
were  all  new  levies  and  had  not  been  brigaded, 
and  the  amount  of  artillery  he  had  was  insignifi 
cant,  our  chances  of  success  seemed  very  remote. 
It  seemed  to  me  the  attempt  would  result  in  in 
evitable  disaster. 

General  Wool  asserted  at  once,  with  great  con 
fidence  :  "  If  I  land,  General  Huger  will  run. 
Huger  has  been  on  my  staff,  and  he  knows  I  will 
never  wet  my  feet." 

"  Suppose  he  does  not  run,"  I  said  ;  "  we  will 
either  be  driven  into  the  sea  or  will  have  to  sur 
render." 

'  It  is  not  a  supposable  case,"  General  Wool 
replied.  "  General  Huger  will  evacuate." 

I  was  the  ranking  officer  on  the  staff  at  Fort 
Monroe.  It  is  military  etiquette  that  the  highest 
ranking  officer  should  be  assigned  as  aide-in-wait 
ing  to  the  President.  President  Lincoln  occupied 
my  sleeping-room,  while  I  slept  on  a  stretcher  in 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          157 

the  hall.  As  aide-in-waiting,  I  was  practically 
secretary  to  the  President. 

I  was  utterly  depressed  by  General  Wool's  con 
fidence,  which  was  not  based  on  any  considera 
tion  of  military  affairs  and  of  the  exact  situation, 
but  was  purely  a  game  of  brag.  On  the  follow 
ing  day,  when  General  Wool  was  out  reviewing 
the  command  that  was  going  on  the  expedition, 
the  President  and  Secretary  observed  that  I  was 
very  reticent  and  depressed,  and  asked  me  what 
the  trouble  was.  I  avoided  the  question  for  some 
little  time,  but  they  urged  upon  me  that  I  should 
tell  them  what  was  the  cause  of  my  trouble.  I 
replied  to  them  : 

'•  I  am  going  to  do  a  very  insubordinate  act." 
Then  I  told  them  precisely  what  General  Wool 
was  about  to  do  :  that  he  was  going  to  move  the 
following  night  to  attack  Norfolk,  purely  on  the 
belief  that  if  he  landed  General  Huger  would 
evacuate  the  place.  I  said  :  "  We  have  had  so 
many  disasters,  that  one  coming  now  would  be 
terrible,  not  only  in  its  consequences  to  us,  but 
fearful  in  its  influence  on  McClellan's  ad 
vance." 


158          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

The  President  was  thoughtful  for  a  long  time, 
and  finally  said  : 

'  Well,  what  do  you  suggest  ?" 

"  I  have  nothing  to  suggest,"  I  said;  "but 
there  is  a  remedy." 

'  What  is  it  ?"  asked  the  President. 

"  Relieve  General  Wool  of  his  command,"  I 
said. 

They  knew  my  close  personal  relations  with 
General  Wool  ;  but  this  they  were  not  prepared 
to  do. 

At  dinner  that  evening  the  President  asked  Gen 
eral  Wool  how  many  men  he  was  going  to  move 
with. 

"  About  10,000,"  said  the  General. 

"  But,"  the  President  said,  "  has  not  General 
Huger  nearly  20,000  men,  and  are  they  not  behind 
fortified  works  ?" 

"Well,  possibly,"  answered  General  Wool; 
"  but  that  is  of  no  consequence.  He  is  not  going 
to  fight.  He  will  run  if  I  land." 

Then  the  President  repeated  very  much  what  I 
had  said  to  him  about  the  situation. 

"Mr.    President,"   said    General   Wool,    "you 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          159 

are  not  a  military  man,  and  do  not  understand 
the  situation.  If  you  stay  here  forty-eight  hours, 
I  will  present  Norfolk  to  you  " 

The  troops  were  embarked  on  the  barges  at 
nightfall,  and  very  clever,  skilful  arrangements 
were  made  for  landing  them.  Two  or  three  of 
these  barges,  empty,  were  to  be  driven  ahead  by 
a  tug  with  great  velocity,  and  run  right  up  on  to 
the  beach,  bows  first.  Anchors  and  chains  were 
immediately  to  be  carried  ashore  to  keep  the 
barges  in  position.  Then  another  barge  was  to 
be  brought  under  the  stern  of  these,  in  water 
sufficiently  deep  for  others  to  come  up  alongside 
and  disembark  the  troops. 

'J  Secretary  Chase  accompanied  General  Wool  on 
the  expedition,  leaving  Fort  Monroe  about  4 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  May  loth.  The  troops 
had  gone  ahead  in  the  barges  during  the  night, 
and  laid  off  near  the  proposed  landing-place.  I 
reported  with  my  horse  and  orderly,  to  go  on 
board,  and  the  General  at  once  asked  me  : 

'  What  are  you  doing  here,  sir  ?" 

'  I  am  going  with  the  expedition,  of  course,"  I 
answered. 


l6o          REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

"  No,  you  are  not  going,"  said  General  Wool. 
'  I  will  take  nobody  with  me  who  has  any  doubt 
of  my  success." 

"  Am  I  to  be  humiliated,  General  Wool,"  I  re 
plied,  "  in  consequence  of  my  confidential  rela 
tions  to  you  ?  If  so,  I  shall  resign  from  the  ser 
vice." 

14  No,"  he  said  ;  "  you  are  left  in  command  of 
the  reserves  and  of  this  fort,  and  I  will  not  trust 
any  one  else." 

'  That  is  more  monstrous  than  anything  else,  if 
you  will  allow  me  to  suggest  it,"  I  said.  "  I 
shall  obey  the  order,  but  I  must  ask  you  to  leave 
the  Adjutant-General  with  me." 

The  Adjutant-General  was  very  indignant  at  be 
ing  left,  but  it  was  so  ordered, and  he  had  to  remain. 

General  Wool  embarked,  and  all  day  long  we 
heard  nothing  from  him.  At  times  we  could  hear 
firing  and  could  see  some  smoke.  It  was  a  day 
of  most  fearful  anxiety.  The  President  and  Sec- 
retary  of  War  were  almost  overcome  with  their 
anxiety  concerning  this  expedition.  They  could 
not  but  feel  that  they  were  in  a  measure  responsi 
ble,  as  they  had  consented  to  it. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          l6l 

The  whole  day  passed,  and  no  word  came  from 
Norfolk.  Evening  set  in,  and  when  it  got  to  be 
about  9  or  10  o'clock,  I  persuaded  the  President 
to  go  to  bed  in  my  room.  I  also  persuaded  Sec 
retary  Stanton  to  retire.  He  had  a  bed  in  my 
office.  I  went  outside  the  fort  with  Captain 
Rogers,  of  the  navy,  and  we  went  down  on  to  the 
ordnance  wharf.  It  was  a  beautiful  moonlight 
night.  There  we  remained,  waiting  for  some 
news  to  come. 

After  a  long  time  I  heard  a  distant  sound  of 
paddle-wheels  splashing  in  the  water.  The  sound 
came  nearer  and  nearer,  and  finally  up  came  a 
little  gunboat  with  General  Wool  and  the  mem 
bers  of  his  staff  and  Secretary  Chase  on  board, 
and  the  news  that  Norfolk  was  taken.  General 
Huger  had  run. 

The  excitement  was  wonderful.  General  Wool 
came  up  into  the  fort,  and  as  we  approached  head 
quarters  the  sentinel  challenged,  ' '  Who  goes 
there?"  The  President  heard  the  challenge,  and 
the  next  thing  we  saw  was  six  feet  of  white  night 
shirt  at  the  French  window. 

"  What  is  it?"  asked  the  President. 


l62          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

44  General  Wool,  to  present  Norfolk  to  you  !"  I 
replied. 

'*  Call  up  Stanton,  and  send  Wool  up  here,"  he 
said. 

I  roused  up  Secretary  Stanton,  and  told  him, 
"  General  Wool  has  returned,  and  we  have  taken 
Norfolk." 

14  My  God  !"  he  said,  and  jumped  out  of  bed, 
and  started  up  in  his  night-shirt  to  the  President's 
room. 

President  Lincoln  was  sitting  on  the  edge  of 
the  bed.  General  Wool  was  there,  in  full  uniform 
and  all  covered  with  dust,  and  one  or  two  of  his 
officers  were  also  there.  Secretary  Stanton  rushed 
impetuously  into  General  Wool's  arms  in  his 
excitement,  and  embraced  him  fervently.  The 
President  broke  out  laughing  at  seeing  the  Gen 
eral  in  full  uniform  and  the  Secretarv  in  his  night 
shirt  clasped  in  each  other's  arms,  and  said  : 

44  Look  out,  Mars  !  If  you  don't,  the  General 
will  throw  you." 

Secretary  Stanton,  with  his  usual  quickness  of 
perception  and  appreciation,  said  : 

44  This  is  the  most  important  capture  that  has 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          163 

been  made.  Its  importance  nobody  can  estimate. 
You  should  immediately  proceed  to  Norfolk,  Mr. 
President,  and  issue  a  proclamation  on  rebel  soil." 
I  got  the  Secretary  some  covering,  and  he  sat 
down  and  right  then  and  there  wrote  the  procla 
mation  for  the  President. 

At  5  o'clock  that  same  morning — Sunday,  May 
nth,  1862 — we  started  on  a  gunboat  for  Norfolk. 
We  took  over  President  Lincoln,  Secretary  Chase, 
Secretary  Stanton,  and  Admiral  Goldsborough, 
who  came  on  board.  But  we  knew  the  Merrimack 
was  there  yet,  and  whether  we  could  get  to  Nor 
folk  or  not  we  did  not  know.  We  had  proceeded 
but  a  short  distance  when  we  heard  a  tremendous 
explosion.  Looking  in  the  direction  whence  the 
sound  came,  we  saw  that  it  was  in  the  Elizabeth 
River.  It  proved  to  be  the  destruction  of  the 
Merrimack,  which  the  rebels  had  blown  up. 
Later,  as  we  were  going  in,  we  passed  over  her 
wreckage. 

Soon  after  breakfast  we  arrived  at  Norfolk,  and 
found  our  troops  in  possession  of  the  city.  I 
mentioned  to  Secretary  Chase  on  the  way  that  it 


164          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

was  most  important  to  make  a  strong  political 
point  there.  Here  at  Norfolk  there  were  large 
numbers  of  poor  people  and  negroes,  and  a  vast 
amount  of  property  at  the  Navy  Yard  that  ought 
to  be  preserved  ;  and  I  suggested  that  the  mili 
tary  command  should  pursue  a  policy  which 
would  operate  to  cause  dissension  among  the 
Southern  people.  Employment  should  be  given 
to  these  poor  people  ;  they  should  be  taken  into 
the  service  of  the  United  States,  which  would  nat 
urally  beget  jealousy  between  them  and  the  people 
of  wealth,  who  were  insignificant  in  numbers. 
Furthermore,  we  should  pursue  the  same  policy 
with  the  negroes  there  which  we  had  adopted 
at  Fort  Monroe.  Secretary  Chase  talked  with 
me  earnestly  about  the  matter,  and  then  went 
and  talked  with  the  President.  Then  he  came 
back  to  me  and  said  : 

"  The  President  wants  to  make  you  Military 
Governor  of  Norfolk.  We  will  speak  to  General 
Wool,  if  you  assent  to  it  ;  and,  no  doubt,  he  will 
readily  endorse  the  proposition." 

"  It  is  impossible,"  I  said.  "  My  health  is  im 
paired,  and,  furthermore,  my  duties  are  almost 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          165 

entirely    advisor}7,     executive    rather    than    mili 
tary." 

'  That  is  what  we  want  more  than  anything  else 
in  the  army,"  said  the  Secretary  ;  "  and  the  Presi 
dent  wants  you  to  take  this  post." 

But  I  utterly  refused  the  offer.  Later,  when  I 
went  up  to  Washington  with  President  Lincoln, 
Secretary  Chase,  and  Secretary  Stanton,  Secre 
tary  Chase  again  urged  the  matter  on  me. 

I  said  :  "  I   must  go  home  to  my  family,  some 
of  whom  are  ill." 

'  Well,  bring  your  family  here,  and  take  up 
your  quarters  at  Fort  Norfolk,"  he  said.  It  was, 
he  urged,  the  first  place  where  we  could  impress 
upon  the  people  of  the  South  that  if  they  wanted 
Federal  protection,  they  must  recognize  Federal 
authority.  Finally,  to  get  rid  of  their  importu 
nity,  I  said  I  would  go  home  and  would  take  the 
matter  under  consideration,  and  would  advise 
them  of  my  decision.  Secretary  Chase  said  : 

II  If  you  will  take  this  position,  and  should  find 
that  you  have  occasion  to  go  home,  temporarily, 
I  will  come  down  myself  and  relieve  you  of  the 
command  until  your  return.     I  particularly  desire 


166          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

that  you  should  accept  it,  because  of  its  great  im 
portance,  and  because  of  our  perfect  accord  in  re 
gard  to  the  position." 

I  returned  to  New  York,  but  having  suffered 
from  malarious  trouble  for  some  time,  and  being 
then  far  from  well,  I  was  influenced  by  my  family 
and  physician  to  utterly  decline  the  proffered 
post,  and  to  tender  my  resignation  from  the  ser 
vice. 

I  sent  in  my  resignation,  and  it  was  accepted 
on  June  nth,  1862. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN. 

A  SHORT  time  after  we  had  started  on  the  way 
to  Norfolk,  on  May  nth,  breakfast  was  served, 
and  I  went  to  find  the  President  to  notify  him.  I 
found  he  had  sought  a  private  place  behind  the 
wheel-house,  where  he  was  seated  reading-  the 
Bible. 

During  breakfast  President  Lincoln  said  : 
• 
"  Now,   Mr.   Chase,  you  know   we   have  been 

solicited  by  artists  to  fill  the  panels  at  the  Capitol 
with  pictures  illustrative  of  this  war.  I  don't 
think  anything  has  been  done  on  our  side  until 
the  capture  of  Norfolk  worthy  of  illustration. 
But  now  you  can  send  for  artist  Leitze,  and  tell 
him  to  illustrate  the  taking  of  Norfolk.  It  should 
be  illustrated  by  a  picture  showing  the  meeting 
of  the  Secretary  of  War  and  General  Wool,  on 
the  announcement  of  the  capture." 


1 68          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

The  President's  joke  was  keenly  appreciated. 
This  story  of  the  President  suggests  his  well- 
known  trait  of  frequent  indulgence  in  good-na 
tured  but  shrewd  humor.  I  had  occasion  of  see 
ing  much  of  this  side  of  President  Lincoln's  char 
acter. 

On  one  occasion,  previous  to  the  incidents  re 
lated  above,  I  had  been  ordered  off  very  early  in 
the  morning  to  our  advanced  lines  with  reference 
to  advancing  them  on  the  Peninsula,  and  did  not 
return  until  very  late  in  the  evening,  close  upon 
the  hour  for  dinner.  Dinner  was  a  very  formal 
affair,  and  this  evening  we  had  for  guests,  as  well 
as  the  President  and  Secretaries,  some  admirals 
of  the  foreign  fleets  then  anchored  in  the  Roads. 
Marquis  de  Montagnac,  Admiral  of  the  French 
fleet,  was  one  of  the  guests.  I  had  hastened  to 
get  into  full  dress,  and  could  only  dress  in  my 
private  room,  which  the  President  then  occupied. 
While  I  was  dressing  the  President  came  in,  and 
he  said  : 

'  Why,  I  think  you  are  making  rather  an  elabo 
rate  toilet,  Colonel." 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          169 

"  Of  course,"  I  said.  "  In  such  presence  I 
could  not  do  otherwise." 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  don't  know  but  if  you  will 
lend  me  that  brush,  I  think  I  will  fix  up  a  little, 
too." 

I  handed  him  my  ivory-backed  hair-brush  and 
shell  comb.  He  said  : 

"Why,  I  can't  do  anything  with  such  a  thing 
as  that.  It  wouldn't  go  through  my  hair.  Now, 
if  you  have  anything  you  comb  your  horse's  mane 
with,  that  might  do. 

"  Now,"  he  continued,  "  I  must  tell  you  a  story 
about  my  hair.  When  I  was  nominated  for  Presi 
dent  at  Chicago — as  much  to  my  surprise  as  to 
the  surprise  of  the  country — people  naturally 
wanted  to  see  how  Abe  Lincoln  looked.  I  had 
been  up  to  Chicago  a  year  or  two  previous,  and 
had  been  persuaded  to  have  my  photograph 
taken.  An  enterprising  fellow  in  the  Convention 
knowing  of  this,  went  to  the  photographer  and 
bought  the  negative,  and  he  was  so  expeditious 
about  his  scheme,  that  by  the  time  the  news  got 
down  to  Springfield,  where  I  lived,  the  boys  were 
running  through  the  streets  crying  : 


170          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

'  Here's  a  likeness  of  Abe  Lincoln.  Price, 
two  shillings.  Will  look  a  great  deal  better  when 
he  gets  his  hair  combed/'" 

Before  President  Lincoln  got  through  telling 
this  story  the  butler  had  appeared  a  second  time 
to  announce  dinner,  and  when  we  entered  the 
dining-room  the  guests  were  all  there  and  wait 
ing.  General  Wool  was  very  punctilious  about 
matters  of  etiquette,  and  he  said  : 

"  Colonel,  you  have  detained  me  and  my  guests 
five  minutes." 

'  I  must  crave  your  indulgence,  General  and 
gentlemen,"  I  replied,  "  for  having  detained  you 
by  this  breach  of  etiquette." 

The  President  sat  at  General  Wool's  right  hand 
looking  at  me  with  a  comical  expression  on 
his  face,  as  much  as  to  say  :  "  The  General  is 
whipping  me  over  your  shoulders. "  I  could  not 
help  smiling,  and  General  Wool  said  : 

"  It  seems  hardly  a  matter  for  unseemly  merri 
ment,  Colonel." 

' '  For  any  breach  of  etiquette  I  may  be  guilty 
of,"  I  replied,  "  as  I  am  aide-in-waiting  to  the 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          I /I 

President  of  the  United  States,  the  President  is 
solely  responsible." 

Whereupon  Secretary  Chase  remarked,  with 
great  dignity  :  "  I  have  no  doubt  but  possibly  the 
President  has  been  amusing  the  Colonel  with  some 
of  his  stories." 

The  French  admiral,  Marquis  de  Montagnac, 
was  an  intense  admirer  of  the  President,  and  he 
broke  in  : 

'  Well,  vill  not  ze  Praysident  give  us  ze  benefit 
of  this  story  ?" 

"  I  think  it  will  keep  until  the  dessert,"  I  sug 
gested. 

At  dessert  the  French  marquis  asked  me  if  I 
would  not  request  the  President  to  repeat  the 
story.  I  did  so,  and  the  President  told  the  story 
again  to  the  great  amusement  of  every  one  at 
table. 

I  was  so  intensely  in  earnest  over  every  effort 
to  suppress  the  rebellion,  that  I  had  formed  some 
thing  of  a  prejudice  against  President  Lincoln 
before  I  met  him,  from  what  I  had  heard  and 
what  was  published  in  regard  to  the  levity  in 


172          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

which  he  was  said  to  indulge.  But  when  I  be 
came  intimately  associated  with  him  at  Fort  Mon 
roe,  I  then  appreciated  the  great  qualities  of  the 
man.  He  was,  in  many  respects,  the  most  re 
markable  person  that  I  have  ever  met  in  my  life. 
His  charity  seemed  to  be  boundless,  and  yet 
coupled  with  it  there  was  a  patience  and  a  firm 
ness  and  a  courage  that  was  almost  limitless.  He 
was  by  nature  an  intensely  sad  man,  and  all  his 
story-telling  and  humor  was  a  mere  shield  to 
cover  his  real  nature. 

The  day  after  his  arrival  in  Fort  Monroe,  he 
said  to  me  : 

14  I  don't  suppose  you  have  a  copy  of  Shake 
speare  here,  any  more  than  you  have  a  copy  of 
the  Bible?" 

"  You  are  mistaken,  Mr.  President,"  I  replied, 
"  for  General  Wool  never  goes  to  bed  at  night 
without  reading  and  spouting  Shakespeare  ;  and 
I  have  a  copy  of  the  Bible." 

"  I  wonder  if  the  General  will  lend  me  his 
Shakespeare  ?"  he  asked. 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION.          173 

"  Most  certainly,"  I  said. 

The  next  day  General  Wool  and  most  of  his 
staff  were  off  reviewing  his  command,  and  I  was 
left  in  charge  at  headquarters  receiving  despatches 
and  issuing  orders.  The  President  occupied  my 
office,  which  communicated  with  the  General's, 
and  spent  the  morning  reading  Shakespeare.  I 
was  kept  exceedingly  busy,  and  after  the  lapse  of 
two  or  three  hours  the  President  got  up  from  his 
reading,  and  said  to  me  : 

1  You  have  been  very  busy,  Colonel.  Come  in 
here  and  sit  with  me  and  rest,  and  I  will  read  you 
some  passages  from  Shakespeare." 

I  went  in,  and  we  sat  down  opposite  to  each 
other  at  a  little  round  table.  He  commenced  by 
reading  from  V  Macbeth,"  and  then  from  "  King 
Lear,"  and  then  from  "  King  John,"  and  I  was 
surprised  to  find  how  well  he  rendered  it  all. 

He  read  that  part  of  "  King  John"  where  Con 
stance  bewails  to  the  king  the  loss  of  her  son.  I 
noticed  as  he  read  these  pathetic  passages  that 
his  voice  became  tremulous,  and  he  seemed  to  be 
deeply  moved.  When  he  reached  the  end  he 


174          REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

closed  the  book,  laid  it  down,  and  turning  to  me, 
said  : 

'  Did  you  ever  dream  of  some  lost  friend,  and 
feel  that  you  were  having  a  sweet  communion 
with  him,  and  yet  have  a  consciousness  that  it 
was  not  a  reality  ?" 

It  was  a  most  singular  situation,  and  I  was 
deeply  moved  by  his  manner  and  the  circum 
stances. 

'  I  think  we  all  of  us  have  some  such  experi 
ences,"  I  replied. 

1  That  is  the  way  I  dream  of  my  lost  boy 
Willie,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln.  (He  had  just  lost  his 
boy,  who  was  his  idol.)  Then  he  broke  down  in 
most  convulsive  weeping.  It  was  most  grievous 
and  distressing  to  see  this  great,  strong  man  give 
way  to  such  emotion,  and  I  was  so  sympatheti 
cally  moved  that  I,  too,  broke  down  utterly.  He 
sat  there  with  his  head  bowed  down  on  the  table, 
and  I  quietly  left  the  room. 

He  never  alluded  to  this  incident  afterward, 
but  night  after  night  he  used  to  ask  me  to  go 
with  him  on  the  ramparts,  and  he  would  sit 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          175 

there  and  talk  to  me  with  the  utmost  frankness  of 
the  graveness  of  the  situation.  He  treated  me 
always  with  the  most  genuine  affection.  He  had 
given  me  a  sacred  confidence,  and  I  grew  to  have 
a  most  intense  affection  for  him. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

WITH    GENERAL    WOOL    IN    THE    DEPARTMENT     OF 
THE    EAST. 

SHORTLY  after  my  resignation  General  Wool 
was  relieved  of  his  command  of  the  Department 
of  Virginia,  and  was  assigned  to  the  Department 
of  Maryland,  with  headquarters  at  Baltimore. 
Then,  as  the  Government  deemed  it  was  very 
essential  that  there  should  be  an  influential  com 
mand  in  the  Department  of  the  East,  General 
Wool  was  later  assigned  to  the  Department  of 
the  East,  which  embraced  the  New  England 
States,  and  the  States  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  with  headquarters  in  New  York  City. 

On  his  assuming  this  command  I  rejoined  his 
staff  as  Volunteer  Aide.  The  great  importance 
of  this  command  was  in  that  it  was  a  basis  of  sup 
plies,  and  also  of  mustering  additional  troops  into 
the  service  of  the  United  States  and  sending  them 
into  the  field.  And,  above  all,  it  was  especially 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION.          1/7 

important  in  keeping  down  the  disloyal  sentiment 
which  was  so  prevalent  in  New  York  City. 

While  General  Wool  was  in  command  of  the 
department  Major-General  Butler  was  relieved 
of  his  command  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  al 
though  he  had  exhibited  an  ability  in  dealing  with 

\ 
disloyalty  which   was  more  conspicuous   than  in 

the  case  of  any  other  officer  in  the  service.  But 
it  was  charged  that  he  was  unnecessarily  severe, 
and  especially  so  in  his  treatment  of  women.  As 
General  Butler  was  an  independent  character  and 
inclined  to  assume  responsibilities  that  were  not 
authorized  at  Washington,  the  Government,  with 
an  exhibition  of  weakness,  yielded  to  demands, 
and  he  was  relieved  of  the  command. 

The  feeling  among  the  loyal  people  of  the  North 
was  that  he  was  treated  with  great  injustice,  and 
on  his  appearing  in  New  York  City,  with  his 
staff,  the  citizens  of  New  York  tendered  him  a 
public  reception,  which  was  presided  over  by  the 
Mayor  of  the  city,  Mr.  George  Opdyke,  who  had 
succeeded  the  disloyal  Mayor,  Fernando  Wood. 
General  Butler  made  his  headquarters  at  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Hotel. 


1 78          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

On  my  calling  on  General  Butler  at  his  head 
quarters  he  at  once  requested  a  private  audience. 
In  that  audience  he  stated  to  me  that  he  had  been 
honored  with  the  offer  of  a  public  reception,  and 
he  wanted  me  to  consent  to  do  him  a  favor.  I 
replied  that  I  should  be  very  happy  to  do  so,  and 
what  could  I  do  to  oblige  him  ? 

;<  I  want  your  promise  that  you  will  do  me  this 
favor,"  said  General  Butler. 

'  Well,  of  course  I  will  make  you  the  promise 
that  I  will  do  it,"  I  replied,  "  because  I  know  you 
will  not  ask  anything  that  would  be  improper  for 
me  to  do." 

'  Well,  I  want  }rou  to  have  General  Wool  attend 
my  reception,"  said  General  Butler,  "because  I 
want  to  have  his  presence  more  than  that  of  any 
man  in  the  United  States.  I  know  he  doesn't 
like  me,  but  I  have  my  reasons  for  wanting  his 
support  more  than  that  of  any  other  man." 

"  You  know  General  Wool's  peculiarity,"  I 
said.  "  You  know  that  he  is  a  man  who  has  his 
prejudices,  and  that  they  are  very  difficult  to  over 
come  ;  but  I  can  see  no  reason  why  he  should  not 
attend  your  reception.  Have  you  invited  him  ?" 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          1/9 

4  Yes,"  answered  General  Butler.  *  Invita 
tions  have  been  sent  to  him  and  to  every  member 
of  his  staff.  I  know  that  you  are  the  only  man 
that  can  influence  him  to  come,  and  I  want  you  to 
induce  him  to  attend." 

"  1  can  see  no  good  reason  why  he  should  not 
come,"  I  repeated,  4<  and  I  will  use  my  best  efforts 
to  accomplish  what  you  desire." 

Going  to  headquarters  that  morning  and  look 
ing  over  the  correspondence,  I  observed  this  in 
vention  of  General  Butler.  I  reported  it  to  Gen 
eral  Wool,  and  said  : 

"  I  suppose  you  will  accept  it?" 

"  No  ;  you  will  decline  it,  sir,"  he  answered. 
*  Why  should  I  give  my  countenance  to  a  man 
who  has  no  military  qualities  ?" 

Appreciating  the  General's  peculiarities,  I  did 
not  attempt  to  combat  his  prejudices  then.  I  re 
turned  later  with  the  correspondence  that  I  had 
to  answer,  and  suggested  to  him  that  I  was  em 
barrassed  what  to  do  about  General  Butler's  in 
vitation.  I  did  not  see,  1  said,  how  he  could  de 
cline  a  courteous  invitation  of  that  nature.  Gen 
eral  Wool  still  resisted,  until  finally  I  suggested 


180         REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

to  him  that  neither  he  nor  his  friends  could  defend 
such  action. 

"  Certainly,"  I  said,  "  you  have  justified  all  of 
his  severe  measures  with  reference  to  the  rebels. 
He  is  certainly  not  a  military  man,  but  he  is  a 
military  governor,  and  you  have  justified  him." 

"  Why  are  you  so  interested  in  my  being  pres 
ent?"  asked  General  Wool. 

I  related  to  him  exactly  what  had  taken  place 
between  General  Butler  and  myself.  "  General 
Butler  wants  your  presence  at  his  reception  more 
than  that  of  any  other  man  in  the  United  States," 
I  said.  That  was,  of  course,  flattering  to  General 
Wool's  vanity.  Then  I  again  urged  that  neither 
he  nor  his  friends  could  justify  a  refusal  of  the 
courteous  invitation.  He  could,  if  he  liked,  ac 
cept  it  and  not  go.  He  made  no  further  reply  to 
this,  so  I  went  to  my  office  and  accepted  the  in 
vitation  for  him.  After  sending  the  acceptance 
by  an  orderly  I  told  General  Wool  what  I  had 
done. 

That  evening  we  were  dining  at  the  New  York 
Hotel  with  his  nephew,  Mr.  Griswold,  M.C.,  and 
at  the  dinner  were  also  Mr.  Sam  Buttervvorth,  of 


REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION.  l8l 

Mississippi,  and  General  Van  Vliet,  Quartermaster, 
of  our  department.  General  Van  Vliet,  in  the 
course  of  the  dinner,  said,  in  a  supercilious  way  : 

"  I  have  received  an  invitation  to  attend  this 
reception  to  General  Butler  to-morrow  evening." 

Mr.  Butterworth  spoke  up  :  "  You  certainly 
won't  degiade  yourself  by  going  to  a  reception  to 
that  Butcher  Butler." 

General  Wool  immediately  broke  in,  saying  : 

"You  will  go,  General  Van  Vliet;  and,  Mr. 
Butterworth,  General  Butler  is  a  Major-General 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  no  man 
must  speak  disrespectfully  of  him  in  my  presence. 
You  will  attend  that  reception,  General  Van  Vliet. 
Then  he  continued,  turning  to  me  :  "  Colonel, 
issue  an  order  to  every  member  of  my  staff  to  be 
in  attendance  at  my  headquarters,  in  full  dress,  at 
half-past  seven  to-morrow  evening,  to  attend  the 
reception  to  General  Butler." 

We  appeared  at  the  meeting  the  following  even 
ing,  and  were  assigned  to  most  conspicuous  places 
on  the  platform.  General  Butler  made  that  re 
markable  speech  in  which  he  not  only  justified  his 
own  acts,  but  particularly  showed  to  the  American 


1 82         REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

people  the  perfidy  of  Great  Britain.  That  part 
of  his  speech  was  particularly  made  for  the  bene 
fit  of  General  Wool,  whose  prejudice  he  very 
well  knew,  as  General  Wool  yet  carried  in  his 
back  an  English  bullet,  received  in  the  War  of 
1812,  which  never  had  been  extracted. 

At  the  close  of  the  speech  there  was  immense 
applause,  but  without  noticing  the  audience  Gen 
eral  Butler  turned  and  advanced  across  the  stage 
to  General  Wool,  took  him  by  the  hands,  and 
said  : 

General  Wool,  you  have  conferred  a  favor 
upon  me  by  your  support  this  evening  which  I 
can  never  forget." 

"  General  Butler,"  responded  General  Wool, 
' '  every  word  you  have  uttered  and  all  your  acts 
I  endorse." 

General  Butler  had  captured  General  Wool. 

In  1863  further  requisitions  were  made  upon 
the  several  States  by  the  National  Government 
for  additional  forces.  The  previous  demand  had 
been  so  great,  and  had  invariably  been  fully  sup 
plied  by  volunteers,  that  there  was  a  necessity 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION.          183 

for  a  draft.  Provost  Marshals'  offices  were  opened 
and  a  census  taken  for  the  purpose  of  drafting 
men  into  the  United  States  service.  This  act  was 
unpopular,  and  was  resented,  and  finally  the  re 
sentment  culminated  in  the  July  riots,  mainly  on 
the  part  of  the  Irish,  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
The  rioters  exhibited  their  wrath  by  assaults  upon 
innocent  negroes,  and  by  atrocious  acts  of  bar 
barity.  The  invasion  of  the  rebel  army  into  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania  just  previous  to  this  had 
compelled  the  Government  to  ask  the  States  for 
every  available  man  they  had  in  the  militia,  and 
just  before  the  draft  riots  all  the  militia  regiments 
of  New  York  had  been  sent  to  the  support  of 
Meade's  army  at  Gettysburg.  Consequently  there 
was  no  recognized  armed  force  in  New  York  City 
to  meet  the  emergency  which  arose  in  these  riots. 
Governor  Seymour,  of  New  York,  a  Democrat, 
whose  sympathies  were  with  the  South,  and  who 
was  by  nature  a  timid  and  irresolute  man,  instead 
of  meeting  the  violence  exhibited  in  New  York 
by  decisive  action,  temporized,  and  being  Gov 
ernor  of  the  State  his  course  seriously  embar 
rassed  the  action  of  the  commanding  general. 


1 84          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

General  Wool  hesitated  about  declaring  the  city 
under  martial  law,  but  finally,  by  the  loyalty  and 
courage  of  the  police  force,  under  the  direction 
of  Thomas  $!  Acton,  and  with  the  aid  of  the 
very  small  forces  of  regular  troops  which  were 
stationed  at  Governor's  Island  and  at  Fort  Rich 
mond,  and  by  the  use  of  the  most  positive  meas 
ures,  these  terrible  riots  were  put  down. 

So  fearful  was  the  penalty  inflicted  upon  the 
rioters  in  the  suppression  of  the  riots,  that  it  was 
not  deemed  good  policy  to  make  public  anything 
like  the  full  extent  of  it.  The  number  of  negroes 
and  poor  whites  that  were  victims  of  the  vengeance 
of  the  mob  did  not  exceed  54  or  55.  The  rioters 
suffered,  either  directly  by  being  killed  outright 
at  the  time,  or  through  being  grievously  wounded 
so  that  they  died  months  after,  to  the  extent  of 
1700  to  1800.  They  were  dying  all  winter,  but 
did  not  dare  let  it  be  known  that  they  were 
wounded  in  the  riots. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE   UNION    LEAGUE  CLUB  AND  THE  REBELLION. 

PREVIOUS  to  this  the  State  of  Massachusetts 
had  organized  the  first  negro  regiment.  The 
Massachusetts  authorities  were  advised  by  the 
loyal  authorities  of  New  York  that  it  would  not 
be  safe  to  let  this  regiment  pass  through  New 
York  City.  It  was  therefore  sent  forward  by  sea 
direct.  That  regiment  was  the  Fifty-fourth  Massa 
chusetts,  and  it  was  mustered  into  the  service  by 
Major-General  Wool,  in  the  State  of  Massachu 
setts,  at  Reedville. 

The  State  of  Connecticut  had  also  commenced 
to  enlist  negro  troops  to  fill  its  quota.  Governor 
Seymour,  of  the  State  of  New  York,  had  done 
nothing  of  the  kind,  and  would  only  enlist  whites. 

The  Union  League  Club  of  this  city  had  passed 
a  resolution  to  take  measures  to  promote  enlist 
ments,  and  a  committee  was  appointed,  with 


1 86         REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

power,  to  carry  the  resolution  into  effect.  Col 
onel  George  Bliss,  Mr.  Jackson  S.  Schultz,  Mr. 
Alexander  Van  Rensselaer,  two  other  gentle 
men,  and  myself  were  appointed  on  the  Commit 
tee.  The  Committee  met  and  determined  to  estab 
lish  recruiting  stations,  and,  further,  decided  to 
give,  in  addition  to  the  bounties  given  by  the 
city  and  State,  an  additional  fifty  dollars  for  every 
person  enlisted  as  a  recruit  in  the  United  States 
Army. 

This  bounty  system  had  been  very  pernicious 
in  its  workings,  and  was  degenerating  the  whole 
military  service.  Not  a  few  men  had  made  prac 
tically  a  profession  of  enlisting  to  get  these  boun 
ties  and  then  deserting,  and  repeating  the  opera 
tion  from  State  to  State.  It  was  demoralizing 
the  whole  volunteer  service  of  the  country.  I 
objected  at  the  moment  to  voting  the  bounty, 
urging  that  the  whole  system  was  demoralizing 
because  it  was  destroying  all  patriotic  feeling  and 
sentiment,  and  was  degrading  the  whole  army 
into  a  mercenary  service.  Yet  here  we  were 
having  able-bodied  negroes,  who  owed  a  service 
to  this  State,  taken  out  of  our  State  and  filling 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.          1 87 

the  quotas  in  other  States  more  advanced  in  their 
views.  We  should,  I  urged,  proceed  to  raise  a 
regiment  of  black  troops.  After  some  time  the 
Committee  came  over  to  my  views,  and  it  was 
determined  to  apply  at  once  to  Governor  Seymour 
for  authority  to  raise  a  regiment  of  negro  troops. 
The  Governor  of  the  State  refused  permission. 

Colonel  Bliss  and  I  then  applied  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War  on  behalf  of  the  State  for  authority 
to  raise  a  regiment  of  regular  colored  troops. 
The  Secretary  was  disposed  to  refuse  the  request, 
on  the  ground  that  if  the  State  of  New  York  was 
so  stupid  as  to  insist  that  none  but  white  men 
should  fill  its  quota,  he  would  let  other  States 
come  in  and  take  the  negroes  away  from  us. 
When  we  brought  it  to  the  attention  of  Secretary 
Stanton  that  continued  refusal  of  this  request  to 
the  great  loyal  body  of  the  Union  League  Club, 
whose  members  were  the  strongest  supporters  the 
Government  had  in  any  city,  both  with  men  and 
money,  would  alienate  an  aid  in  support  of  the 
nation  which  he  could  little  afford  to  lose,  the 
Secretary  befng  finally  convinced  of  our  position, 
issued  the  authorization. 


1 88          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

Our  proposition  was  ridiculed  in  the  disloyal 
newspapers,  but  we  raised  a  regiment,  the  Twen 
tieth  United  States  Regiment  of  colored  troops, 
of  a  thousand  men,  in  fifteen  days.  We  then  de 
termined  to  correct  public  opinion,  and  decided 
that  this  regiment  of  colored  troops  should  march 
through  the  streets  of  New  York  to  embark,  as  a 
.vindication  of  the  laws  of  the  nation,  and  as  show 
ing  to  the  people  of  the  world  that  we  had  not 
only  put  down  the  rioting,  but  at  the  same  time 
had  elevated  the  negroes.  It  was  further  deter 
mined  that  we  should  still  further  popularize  this 
act  bj'  having  the  most  distinguished  women  in 
New  York  present  to  the  regiment  a  suit  of  colors. 
And  perhaps  no  other  regiment  enlisted  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States  had  such  a  magnifi 
cent  suit  of  colors  as  was  presented  by  the  ladies 
of  New  York  to  the  Twentieth  Regiment  of 
United  States  colored  troops.  Mrs.  John  Jacob 
Astor  was  the  chairman  of  the  Committee. 

It  was  further  determined  that  these  troops 
should  land  from  Randall's  Island  at  the  foot  of 
Twenty-sixth  Street,  on  the  East  River,  and 
march  through  the  ver}T  district  where  the  mob 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          189 

had  been  most  violent  during  the  draft  riots,  to 
Union  Square,  in  front  of  the  club  house,  where 
the  colors  were  to  be  presented.  We  applied  to 
every  bandmaster  in  New  York  to  furnish  a  band 
to  lead  the  regiment,  and  they  all  refused.  We 
then  got  an  order  from  the  United  States  Gov 
ernment  that  the  regular  army  band  on  Govern 
or's  Island  should  be  sent  for  the  purpose,  and 
this  band  came  over.  The  negro  regiment  had 
merely  a  drum  corps  of  negro  boys  and  a  few 
buglers. 

The  band  met  the  regiment  at  the  corner  of 
Twenty-sixth  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue.  An 
immense  crowd  was  following  them.  The  troops 
were  furnished  with  forty  rounds  of  ammunition 
and  their  guns  were  charged,  and  they  had  in 
structions  that  if  they  were  assaulted  they  were 
immediately  to  shoot  down  ail  who  opposed  them. 
They  marched  to  the  point  mentioned  above,  and 
were  halted  there  to  meet  the  band.  It  was  a 
very  bad  place  to  halt,  as  part  of  the  troops  were 
in  one  street  and  part  in  another.  The  Colonel 
recognized  this  fact  and  gave  the  order  to  move. 
The  bandmaster  asked  what  he  should  play. 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

"  Play  anything  !"  said  the  colonel,  and  the  band 
struck  up  some  foreign  air,  and  the  black  soldiers 
started  off  and  the  march  was  continued  without 
mishap. 

When  the  presentation  of  colors  was  made  in 
front  of  the  Union  League  Club-house,  there  was 
a  splendid  display  there  of  the  very  best  element 
of  New  York  society.  After  the  presentation  the 
troops  started  for  the  place  of  embarkation,  with 
350  members  of  the  club  marching  in  front  of  the 
regiment.  The  enthusiasm  was  unbounded.  Not 
a  word  or  sound  was  uttered  or  a  gesture  made 
but  of  praise  and  applause.  The  march  was  a 
triumphant  procession, and  the  enthusiasm  was  kept 
up  at  a  wonderful  pitch  all  the  way  to  the  foot  of 
Canal  Street,  where  the  regiment  embarked  on  a 
ship  and  went  to  Florida. 

The  club  then  raised  two  other  colored  regi 
ments,  until  finally  there  was  scarcely  an  able- 
bodied  negro  of  military  age  living  in  the  State 
of  New  York  that  had  not  been  mustered  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States. 

Thus  was  the  loyalty  of  New  York  City  vindi- 


REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION.          19! 

cated,    and    thereafter    the    loyal   sentiment   was 
dominant  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

In  the  fall  of  1863  General  Wool  was  retired 
from  the  Arrny  of  the  United  States,  under  the 
laws  which  governed  the  period  of  service.  He 
returned  to  his  home  at  Troy,  and  died  in  the 
year  1869.  After  his  retirement  I  left  the  service 
finally,  but  continued  in  private  life  as  an  active 
member  of  the  Union  League  Club,  whose  great 
duty  was  to  sustain  the  Government  in  every  act 
for  maintaining  the  integrity  of  the  nation. 

The  services  of  the  club  in  this  regard  were 
almost  inestimable. 

The  origin  of  the  organization  of  the  Union 
League  Club  was  somewhat  peculiar  and  signifi 
cant.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  as  has 
been  said,  a  large  part  of  the  influential  senti 
ment  of  the  city,  in  business  and  finance,  was  either 
disloyal  or  timid.  The  Union  Club,  which  repre 
sented  more  than  any  other  similar  organization 
the  social  influence  of  the  city,  was  also  largely 
doubtful  or  disloyal. 


IQ2          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

The  late  Judah  P.  Benjamin  was  a  member  of 
the  club,  and  immediately  after  secession  he  be 
came  the  rebel  Attorney-General,  and  later  rebel 
Secretary  of  War.  His  club  dues  lapsed  through 
his  absence  at  the  South,  and  three  members  of 
the  club,  Mr.  Samuel  Barlow,  Mr.  William  Tra- 
vers,  and  Mr.  Augustus  Schell,  paid  his  dues, 
although  this  was  a  Union  club  and  he  a  rebel  in 
arms  against  the  United  States.  This  act  pro 
duced  great  indignation  in  the  minds  of  the  loyal 
men  in  the  club.  Mr.  Alfred  Craven,  Chief  En 
gineer  of  the  city,  a  Virginian  by  birth,  was  so 
indignant  at  this  act  that  he  denounced  it  in  un 
measured  terms.  His  action  became  known  to 
these  three  gentlemen,  and  they  resented  it. 

One  day  shortly  afterward  they  were  in  the 
general  club-room,  with  a  great  many  other  mem 
bers,  and  were  naturally  smarting  under  Mr. 
Craven's  criticisms,  and  were  talking  about  the 
matter,  when  they  observed  Mr.  Craven  walking 
across  Twenty-first  Street,  on  his  way  to  the  club 
house.  They  all  three  rushed  out  of  the  club 
house  and  met  him  in  the  street,  saying  : 

"  Mr.   Craven,  we  hear  you  have  spoken  with 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          193 

great  disrespect  of  us,  in  criticising  our  action  in 
paying  Mr.  Benjamin's  club  dues.  We  want  an 
explanation." 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  Mr.  Craven,  "  we  are  in 
the  street  here,  but  if  I  have  said  anything  that  is 
not  justifiable  I  will  make  explanation  if  you  will 
walk  with  me  to  the  club." 

They  all  walked  into  the  general  club-room, 
where  a  great  number  of  the  members  were  as 
sembled,  everybody  expecting  a  scene.  Mr. 
Craven  said  : 

"  Gentlemen,  I  have  spoken  of  this  matter  pub 
licly,  and  if  I  have  done  wrong  I  must  make  an 
apology  publicly.  What  do  you  complain  of  ?" 

"  You  have  criticised  our  having  paid  this 
gentleman's  dues,"  said  one  of  the  three  gen 
tlemen. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Mr.  Craven  ;  "  and  I  repeat 
it  again.  He  is  a  rebel  in  arms  against  the  United 
States,  and  this  is  a  Union  club.  He  never  was 
fit  to  have  been  a  member  of  this  club  under  any 
conditions.  He  never  was  a  gentleman.  More 
than  that,  he  was  a  thief,  and  a.  dirty  thief.  I 
was  at  school  with  him.  If  any  of  you  gentlemen 


194          REMINISCENCES    OF   THE   REBELLION. 

take   exception  to  what  1  say  I  am   at  your  ser 
vice." 

There  was  not  any  one  of  them  ready  to  take 
exception  ;  but  the  matter  was  taken  up  by  some 
seventy  of  us,  and  we  resigned  from  the  Union 
Club.  We  would  not  compromise  our  self-respect 
by  any  such  association.  From  this  incident 
chiefly  resulted  the  formation  of  the  Union  League 
Club,  which  became  the  most  powerful  volunteer 
organization  there  was  in  this  country.  It  had 
an  influence  for  supplying  the  Government  with 
money  and  credit  which  no  other  organization 
had.  It  was  unstinted  in  its  loyal  exertions.  It 
brought  together  the  presidents  of  banks,  trust 
companies,  and  other  financial  institutions,  who 
rendered  the  Government  and  the  Union  cause 
the  greatest  of  service  ;  for  there  was  a  period 
when  the  Government's  funds  and  credit  wanted 
a  great  deal  more  recruiting  than  the  army  did. 
These  gentlemen  took  a  broad  view  of  the  situa 
tion,  knowing  that  if  the  public  credit  was  gone 
private  credit  would  soon  go  also,  and  they  gave 
the  Government  every  support  in  its  times  of 
greatest  need.  By  their  acts  and  influence,  being 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          195 

the  representatives  of  the  moneyed  powers  of  this 
city,  loans  were  made  to  the  Government,  and 
what  was  done  here  gave  credit  and  confidence  to 
the  moneyed  interests  of  the  whole  country. 

The  club  never  faltered  in  its  $awt  services, 
the  Government  was  never  without  its  support, 
and  the  amount  of  unselfish  work  done  by  its  mem 
bers  was  hardly  to  be  estimated.  It  is  that  §M*t 
fact  that  has  given  the  Union  League  Club  such 
4p*B*t  influence,  and  deservedly  so,  in  public 
affairs  from  that  time  to  this. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

AT   LAKE   CHAMPLAIN   AND   BURLINGTON. 

ON  General  Wool's  retirement  I  returned  to 
my  place  at  Burlington,  Vt.,  resuming-  there  the 
active  management  of  the  Champlain  Transporta 
tion  Company.  The  terminals  of  the  company 
were  Rouse's  Point  on  the  North  and  Whitehall 
on  the  South. 

The  rebel  government  was  exerting  every  pos 
sible  influence  to  obtain  from  England  a  recogni 
tion  of  the  independence  of  the  seceded  States. 
Captain  Wilkes,  in  command  of  the  United  States 
steamer  San  Jacinto,  had,  late  in  the  year  1861, 
boarded  an  English  passenger  vessel,  the  steamer 
Trent,  and  taken  prisoners  therefrom  Messrs. 
Slidell  and  Mason,  diplomatic  agents  of  the  rebel 
government  on  their  way  to  England.  This  was 
an  utterly  indefensible  act,  as  it  was  this  very 
matter  of  the  right  of  search,  which  Great  Britain 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.          197 

had  practised  upon  our  commerce,  which  led  to 
the  War  of  1812-15.  The  British  Government 
made  a  demand  upon  this  nation  for  an  apology, 
for  the  restitution  of  the  prisoners  into  English 
custody,  and  for  an  indemnity,  and  to  enforce 
that  demand  had  sent  a  fleet  upon  our  coasts, 
and  also  quite  a  large  force  of  the  army  into 
Canada. 

The  rebel  government,  presuming  upon  this 
irritation  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  managed 
to  send  a  few  of  their  influential  men  to  the  city 
of  Montreal,  where  they  were  supported  by  a 
number  of  desperate  men  from  the  South  already 
harbored  in  that  city,  with  the  purpose  of  increas 
ing  this  irritation  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States,  and  further  compromising  the 
strained  relations  of  the  two  countries,  by  raiding 
our  frontier  towns  and  railroads  from  Canada, 
and  with  the  further  purpose  of  diverting  soldiers 
from  the  army  to  the  frontier.  The  Vermont 
Central  Railroad  and  the  Ogdensburg  Railroad, 
with  the  Champlain  Transportation  Company, 
organized  a  force  of  detectives  to  work  in  Mon- 


198         REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

treal  and  to  keep  us  informed  of  the  doings  and 
purposes  of  the  rebels  there. 

The  information  we  received  from  them  was 
laid  before  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  he  was 
urged  to  detail  a  small  force  of  United  States 
soldiers  to  the  frontier  to  guard  against  the  threat 
ened  invasion.  This  he  declined  to  do,  either 
underrating  our  apprehension,  or  because  the 
imperative  demand  at  the  front  was  so  great  that 
he  was  not  disposed  to  weaken  our  forces  in  the 
presence  of  the  enemy. 

In  the  emergency  I  determined  to  arm  the 
crews  of  our  boats,  to  establish  man-o'-war  dis 
cipline  on  them,  and  to  adopt  such  other  measures 
as  would  protect  our  towns  from  raids  by  this 
lawless,  rebel  combination.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  seize  one  of  our  boats,  but  on  the  raiders 
finding  that  we  were  fully  prepared  to  meet  them 
and  to  defend  our  property,  they  retreated  back 
beyond  the  Canadian  lines.  The  following  week 
Bennet  H.  Young,  with  a  force  of  about  fifty  men, 
raided  the  town  of  St.  Albans,  Vt.,  robbing  the 
banks  and  intimidating  the  townspeople,  and  es 
caped  back  to  Canada  unmolested. 


REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION.          199 

This,  with  the  exception  of  being  identified  with 
the  great  Metropolitan  Fair  in  New  York  City,  as 
one  of  the  Executive  Committee,  was  the  last  per 
sonal  public  service  that  I  rendered  during  the 
rebellion. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

SOME    OTHER    REMINISCENCES    AND    PERSONAL 
EPISODES. 

IN  1866  I  was  nominated  for  Congress  by  the 
Republican  Party  in  New  York  City,  but  declined 
the  nomination.  On  reassembling,  the  Conven 
tion  declared  that  while  it  might  be  assumed  that 
an  individual  had  such  a  right  to  decline,  yet  there 
was  a  sovereign  right  in  the  people  to  insist  on 
making  him  a  candidate.  The  Eighth  Congres 
sional  District,  in  which  I  was  nominated  to  run 
against  Mr.  James  Brooks,  was  Democratic  by  an 
average  usual  majority  of  about  12,000.  But  the 
loyal  electors  wanted  a  candidate  who  had  been 

<t 

in  the  army,  and  I  was  supported  with  great  cor 
diality,  and  reduced  the  majority  down  to  5606. 

From  the  New  York  Commercial  Advertiser ;  1885. 
NEW    YORK    POLITICS. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  many  shrewd  politicians  of 
both  parties  in  the  State  of  New  York  that  if  the 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.         2OI 

Republicans  make  a  judicious  selection  of  a  stand 
ard-bearer — one  on  whom  the  several  wings  and 
factions  can  cordially  unite — they  can  carry  the 
State,  and  restore  it  to  the  Republican  ranks,  this 
fall.  The  names  of  possible  nominees  for  Gov 
ernor  are  beginning  to  be  canvassed,  and  the  im 
portance  of  the  issues  at  stake  ought  to,  and  we 
trust  will,  compel  the  selection  of  the  best  man. 
The  New  York  Sun  of  Monday  gives  the  follow 
ing  list  of  possible  candidates  :  Hon.  Frank  His- 
cock,  General  J.  B.  Carr,  the  Hon.  James  W. 
Wadsworth,  the  Hon.  S.  S.  Rogers,  of  Buffalo, 
Mayor  Low,  of  Brooklyn,  and  Colonel  Le  Grand  B. 
Cannon,  of  New  York.  Each  gentleman  is  com 
mended,  but  the  Sun  suggests  that  Mr.  Rogers 
cannot  be  nominated  because  he  supported  Mr. 
Cleveland  against  Judge  Folger,  and  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  while  "  no  slouch  as  a  public  man,"  will 
'  have  to  wait  till  his  beard  is  longer."  Of  Col 
onel  Cannon,  whom  it  calls  the  business  man's 
candidate,  the  Sun  says  : 

"  He  resides  in  this  city,  and  is  variously  en 
gaged  in  railroads,  in  mining  and  manufacturing 
iron,  and  in  other  large  enterprises.  A  protec- 


202          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

tionist  in  political  economy,  he  is  one  of  the  natu 
ral  leaders  of  his  party,  though,  so  far  as  we  are 
aware,  he  has  never  held  any  political  office.  His 
military  title  was  gained  by  actual  service  in  the 
Civil  War,  and  his  qualities  of  intellect  and  char 
acter  give  him  a  great  deal  of  weight  in  political 
as  well  as  business  affairs.  He  always  votes  the 
straight  Republican  ticket.  Though  not  a  Elaine 
man,  his  support  of  Elaine  last  year  was  unquali 
fied  and  most  efficient." 

The  Troy  Times  says  : 

'  This  is  the  first  time  we  have  seen  Colonel 
Cannon's  name  mentioned  in  this  connection,  but 
it  may  not  be  the  last  time.  The  Colonel  is  a 
native  of  Troy,  and  has  large  business  interests 
here  and  in  northern  New  York,  as  well  as  in  the 
metropolis.  Colonel  Cannon  would  make  a  strong 
candidate  before  the  people,  and  a  good  governor 
if  elected,  as  we  are  not  without  hope  the  Repub 
lican  nominee,  whosoever  he  may  be,  will  be." 

Colonel  Cannon  would  undoubtedly  make  a 
very  strong  candidate  ;  and  we  incline  to  the  be 
lief  that  he  would  carry  the  State,  if  it  can  be 
carried  this  year  by  any  Republican.  He  is  a 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.          2O3 

man  whose  integrity,  independence,  patriotism, 
public  spirit,  and  executive  capacity  are  beyond 
dispute.  He  is  widely  known  and  as  widely  re 
spected  ;  and  he  would  make  a  clean,  high-mind 
ed,  and  able  governor.  Can  our  brother  Repub 
licans  of  the  Empire  State  do  better  than  to  place 
his  name  at  the  head  of  their  ticket  ? 

From  the  Malone  Repiiblican,  1885. 

Among  the  men  prominently  named  in  connec 
tion  with  the  Republican  nomination  for  Governor 
of  New  York  this  fall  is  Colonel  Le  Grand  B.  Can 
non,  of  New  York.  Such  a  choice  would  be  one 
of  the  wisest  that  could  be  made.  Colonel  Can 
non  earned  his  title  in  actual  service.  He  is  one 
of  the  foremost  business  men  of  the  State.  He  is 
a  Republican  always  and  with  zeal  for  the  cause. 
A  year  ago  he  warmly  favored  the  nomination  of 
Mr.  Arthur  and  went  to  Chicago  in  his  interest  ; 
but  when  the  convention  decided  against  him  he 
never  for  one  moment  sulked.  On  the  contrary, 
he  gave  of  his  means,  time,  and  influence  in  large 
measure  to  promote  the  candidacy  of  Mr.  Blaine. 
In  this  view,  it  would  be  difficult  to  mid  a  man 


204         REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

less  likely  than  he  to  excite  factional  animosities, 
while  as  a  business  man  he  would  command  a 
large  and  earnest  support  throughout  the  State. 
He  is  interested  in  great  mining  industries  in  this 
section,  which  would  make  him  especially  strong 
as  a  candidate  in  the  northern  counties.  As  the 
canvass  develops,  some  other  choice  may  seem 
preferable  to  that  of  Colonel  Cannon,  but  at  this 
date  it  would  be  hard  to  name  a  man  in  whom 
more  elements  of  strength  are  united  than  he  pos 
sesses. 

ON    THE    VIENNA    EXHIBITION    COMMISSION. 

In  the  year  1872,  when  the  great  International 
Exposition  of  Vienna  was  held,  I  was  in  Europe 
with  my  family.  The  Commission  appointed  by 
the  United  States  Government  to  have  charge  of 
the  interests  of  this  country  in  that  Exposition 
was  most  unfortunate  in  its  make-up.  Its  mem 
bers  were  thoroughly  incompetent  for  the  posi 
tions  they  held,  and  their  doings  were  attended 
with  a  great  deal  of  disgraceful  scandal.  So  seri 
ous  did  the  condition  of  affairs  become  that  Mr. 
John  Jay,  our  Minister  to  Austria,  was  ordered 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.          2O$ 

by  the  Government  to  make  a  careful  inquiry  into 
the  acts  and  general  condition  of  this  Commission. 
This  was  done  through  a  Commission  of  Investi 
gation.  The  evidence  of  incompetence  and  of 
dishonesty  was  so  conspicuous,  that  it  would  have 
been  a  national  disgrace  if  it  had  been  permitted 
to  continue,  or  even  if  it  became  public.  I  was  at 
the  time  in  Rome,  spending  the  winter  there  with 
my  family. 

I  knew  Mr.  Jay  intimately,  and  he  repeatedly 
urged  me  by  letter  to  come  to  Vienna.  Finally, 
on  his  continued  solicitation,  I  went  there.  On 
my  arrival  he  showed  me,  in  confidence,  the  con 
dition  of  affairs,  and  urged  upon  me,  as  a  matter 
of  duty  to  the  country,  that  I  should  consent  to 
take  the  office  of  Chief  Commissioner.  Feeling 
that  the  duties  involved  in  conducting  a  great  de 
partment  charged  with  exhibiting  the  evidences 
of  our  national  industries,  which  were  very  nu 
merous  and  very  great,  and  especially  with  the 
system  of  the  Commission  utterly  disorganized, 
would  be  a  duty  which  I  was  incompetent  to  dis 
charge  ;  and  knowing,  also,  that  it  would  involve 
my  giving  up,  with  my  family,  nearly  a  year  of 


206          REMINISCENCES   OF  THE   REBELLION. 

my  time,  and  my  health  being  impaired,  too, 
I  utterly  refused  to  accept  the  office.  Eventually, 
however,  as  the  time  for  opening  the  Exhibition 
was  near  at  hand,  and  realizing  the  national  dis 
grace  which  would  attach  to  our  appearing  before 
the  world  with  so  demoralized  an  organization, 
I  consented  to  become  Chief  Provisional  Commis 
sioner  provided  I  could  name  my  associates. 

Mr.  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Mr.  William  H.  As- 
pinwall,  and  Mr.  Spang,  of  Pittsburgh,  consented 
to  serve  with  me  as  temporary  Commissioners, 
and  the  Government  at  Washington  immediately, 
by  cable,  removed  the  Commissioners,  and  we 
took  possession  of  all  American  affairs  in  connec 
tion  with  the  Exposition.  So  demoralized  was 
the  Commission  in  every  respect,  that  we  found 
it  necessary  to  dismiss  all  the  clerks  who  had  been 
in  its  employ,  and  to  obtain  a  considerable  num 
ber  of  German  and  English  clerks  in  whom  we 
had  confidence,  to  carry  on  the  operations  of  the 
department.  Even  then,  so  brief  was  the  period 
between  our  assuming  office  and  the  opening  of 
the  Exposition,  that  we  decided  to  inform  the 
Imperial  Government  that,  on  account  of  being 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.          2O/ 

the  most  distant  nation,  the  American  Depart 
ment  was  not  sufficiently  completed  to  open  on 
the  appointed  opening  day,  and  it  was  not  opened 
until  some  time  after  the  formal  opening  of  the 
Exposition. 

We  remained  at  Vienna  for  a  month  or  six 
weeks,  performing  az4taBt  arduous  duty  under 
most  embarrassing  circumstances,  and  finally  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  the  department  into  fair  work 
ing  condition,  when  the  Government,  at  our  solici 
tation,  relieved  us  by  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
Jackson  S.  Schultz  as  Chief  Commissioner,  in 
which  office  he  continued,  conducting  the  depart 
ment  to  the  close  of  the  Exposition  with  ability 
«Ml  honor  and  credit. 

This  was  my  last  public  service. 

THE  CHAMPLAIN   TRANSPORTATION  COMPANY. 

In  the  year  1854  occurred  the  failure  of  R.  & 
G.  L.  Schuyler,  who  constructed  and  controlled 
the  Saratoga  and  Washington  Railroad,  and  the 
consequent  insolvency  of  that  corporation  by 
going  into  receivership.  I  was  the  holder  of 
quite  an  amount  of  the  second  mortgage  bonds, 


208          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

and  a  foreclosure  suit  was  instituted  which  re 
sulted  in  the  sale  of  the  road  and  its  reorganiza 
tion  under  the  title  of  the  Saratoga  and  Whitehall 
Railroad  Company,  the  second  mortgage  bonds 
being  represented  in  the  reorganization  as  stock. 
Mr.  J.  Phillips  Phoenix,  of  this  city,  and  myself  were 
constituted  a  Committee^by  the  bondholders  to 
conduct  the  foreclosure  and  reorganization,  and 
to  buy  the  property  under  the  decree  of  foreclo 
sure.  This  resulted  in  the  company  being  re 
organized  and  the  management  delegated  to 
me. 

"  The  connection  of  this  company  on  the  North, 
at  Whitehall,  was  with  the  Champlain  Transpor 
tation  Company,  controlled  by  the  late  Daniel 
Drew  and  his  associates.  Their  passenger  and 
freight  tariff  was  excessive,  and  the  service  of  the 
line  was  indifferent.  These  conditions  seriously 
affected  the  railroad  company's  business.  After 
repeated  protests,  without  result,  it  was  deter 
mined  by  myself  and  associates  to  build  a  com 
peting  boat  on  the  lake.  This  resulted  in  Mr. 
Drew  and  his  associates  selling  to  me  and  my 
associates  a  controlling  interest  in  the  steamboat 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          2OQ 

company,    which  for   many    years    had  not  been 
profitable. 

On  my  assuming  the  management,  incompetent 
and  irresponsible  officers  were  removed,  the  traffic 
rates  reduced,  and  the  steward's  department  im 
proved.  As  a  result,  public  patronage  was  stead 
ily  diverted  from  the  Rutland  Railroad  Company 
to  this  line,  and  from  that  day  forward  it  became 
a  most  profitable  property.  For  thirty-eight 
37ears  its  average  dividends,  made  upon  the  stock, 
have  been  15  per  cent  per  annum,  and  a  surplus 
has  been  accumulated  of  over  170  per  cent  on  the 
capital  stock  to  this  day. 

Visiting  Burlington  in  the  year  1856,  to  exam 
ine  the  property  of  the  steamboat  company  thus 
purchased,  I  was  greatly  impressed  with  the 
beauty  and  attractiveness  of  the  country,  with 
the  grand  panorama  of  lake  and  valley  and 
mountains,  and  with  the  sterling  qualities  of  the 
people,  which  resulted  in  my  purchasing  a  prop 
erty  on  the  heights  of  the  city  for  a  summer  home. 
I  rented  a  furnished  house,  near  the  college,  in 
1 857-58,  meanwhile  building  on  and  improving 


210         REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

the  purchase.  In  1859  I  occupied  my  house, 
"  Overtake,"  which  for  so  many  years  since  I  have 
so  much  enjoyed,  and  which  I  am  conscious 
prolonged  for  many  years  the  life  of  my  dear 
wife. 

The  climate  of  Burlington,  indeed  of  the  whole 
of  the  Champlain  Valley,  is  dry,  invigorating, 
free  from  malarious  disease,  and  equable.  The 
region  thereabout  is  favored  with  a  longer  ex 
emption  from  frost  than  is  that  of  the  Hudson 
River,  which  is  proven  by  the  great  fruit  produc 
tion  of  the  region.  Joined  with  all  this,  the  in 
telligent,  sturdy  qualities  of  the  people  of  Ver 
mont,  and  the  great  loyalty  and  honesty  and 
frugality  of  the  management  of  public  affairs, 
render  it  a  most  desirable  and  delightful  home. 

JOHN  BROWN'S  FARM  AND  GRAVE. 

In  the  year  1872  Miss  Kate  Field,  being  in  the 
Adirondack  region,  visited  the  grave  of  John 
Brown,  at  North  Elba.  She  found  but  one  mem 
ber  of  John  Brown's  family,  a  son-in-law,  living 
there,  and  he  was  desirous  of  moving  to  the  West 
to  join  the  remaining  members  of  the  family,  and 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          211 

wished  to  sell  the  farm  on  which  the  grave  is 
located.  Miss  Field  was  deeply  impressed  with 
the  circumstances  and  the  condition  of  affairs,  and 
came  to  the  city  of  New  York  and  induced  several 
patriotic  men  to  contribute  to  a  fund  for  the  pur 
pose  of  purchasing  this  property  and  preserving 
it.  Twenty  subscribers,  of  whom  I  was  one, 
made  up  the  necessary  amount,  and  the  farm  was 
bought,  the  object  being  to  protect  the  grave  and 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  famous  martyr  to 
liberty.  The  property  was  purchased,  and  to  this 
year,  1895,  was  held  by  the  original  subscribers 
or  their  heirs,  one  half  of  the  original  subscribers 
being  now  dead. 

Appreciating  the  hazard  of  possible  complica 
tions  that  might  arise  in  reference  to  the  owner 
ship  of  the  property,  and  with  a.  desire  to  ensure 
the  carrying  out,  in  the  best  possible  way,  of  the 
intentions  of  the  gentlemen  who  bought  it,  Miss 
Field  and  myself  took  steps  early  in  the  year  1895 
to  secure  the  consent  of  all  those  interested  in  the 
ownership  to  donate  the  farm  to  the  State  of  New 
York,  for  a  public  possession.  This  was  done, 
with  a  limitation  in  the  deed  of  gift  that  the  prop- 


212          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

erty  shall  never  be  alienated  or  encumbered,  but 
that  the  grave  shall  be  preserved,  and  that  an  en 
during  tablet  be  erected  near  it  bearing  the  names 
of  the  donors. 

This  property  at  North  Elba  contains  about 
250  acres,  and  will  become  part  of  the  great 
Adirondack  Park.  Thus  will  the  purpose  of  the 
patriotic  purchasers  of  the  property  be  ensured, 
and  the  place  itself  be  an  enduring  monument  to 
the  memory  of  the  rugged,  heroic  man  whose 
name  is  one  of  the  greatest  and  brightest  in  the 

VARIOUS  INCIDENTS  RETOLD. 

From  the  Burlington  Free  Press. 
THE   DIFFERENCE. 

It  is  frequently  said  that  "  true  hospitality  is 
found  alone  among  the  Chivalry."  This  was 
once  supposed  to  mean  something,  and  had  many 
believers.  But  since  the  war  there  have  been 
grave  doubts  as  to  the  correctness  of  this  state 
ment.  We  do  not  propose  to  go  deeply  into  the 
subject,  but  note  an  instance  of  the  difference 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION.          213 

between  the  "  cold-blooded  Northerner"  and  the 
"  hospitable  Southern  gentleman." 

During  the  winter  of  1861-62  and  the  following 
spring,  the  rebels  had  about  10,000  Union  pris 
oners  confined  in  loathsome  jails  or  noisome  dun 
geons.  Ragged  and  hungry  and  sick,  they  were 
ever  thinking  of  home  and  friends.  Letters  were 
truly  like  angels'  visits.  All  at  once  they  were 
cut  off  from  receiving  them  by  an  order  requiring 
tJie  postage  in  all  cases  where  letters  came  to  or  from 
prisoners  of  war  to  be  paid  in  advance  with  coin. 

Thousands  of  letters  were  detained  at  Norfolk, 
by  the  express  order  of  the  rebel  Postmaster-General, 
because  they  contained  no  silver  five-cent  pieces  to 
pay  the  postage.  The  prisoners  heard  of  this  and 
remonstrated,  but  all  in  vain.  For  nearly  three 
months  they  were  deprived  of  all  correspondence 
with  home  ;  then  letters  which  had  been  kept  at 
Norfolk  for  months  were  forwarded,  and  thou 
sands  were  delivered  to  the  anxious  and  home-sick 
prisoners.  '  How  was  it  brought  about?"  was 
the  anxious  inquiry  of  all.  They  were  told  that 
the  "rebel  government  had  paid  the  postage." 
It  had  a  profound  effect.  But  unfortunately  for 


214         REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

the  good  opinion  of  the  rebel  leaders,  General 
Huger,  the  rebel  commander  at  Norfolk,  had  the 
honor  to  write  General  Wilcox,  then  a  prisoner, 
regretting  the  long  delay  of  our  letters,  and  stat 
ing  that  to  the  kind  offices  of  Colonel  Le  Grand 
B.  Cannon,  of  General  Wool's  staff,  we  were  in 
debted  for  them  at  that  time.  It  appeared  that 
Colonel  Cannon,  on  learning  that  the  prisoners' 
letters  were  detained  for  want  of  silver  enclosed, 
the  requirement  of  which  was  not  then  under 
stood  at  the  North,  went  over  to  Norfolk  with  a 
flag  of  truce,  found  out  that  the  difficulty  was  the 
want  of  a  few  hundred  dollars  in  silver  by  the 
rebel  Postmaster-General,  paid  the  money  out  of 
his  own  pocket,  and  gladdened  the  hearts  of  the 
prisoners  with  news  from  home. 

What  makes  the  contrast  still  more  marked  is 
the  fact  that,  while  the  rebel  officers  knew  it  was 
a  Northern  man  who  had  out  of  his  own  private 
purse  paid  the  demand  of  the  rebel  government, 
they  were  willing  to  accept  from  the  prisoners 
their  gratitude  for  what  they  had  never  done,  and 
to  rob  them  further  on  the  strength  of  it.  With 
the  natural  modesty  of  the  true  gentleman,  the 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          215 

Northern  man  never  even  mentioned  the  matter, 
so  that  to  this  day  few  of  our  officers  and  men 
know  to  whose  efforts  and  kindness  they  owe  the 
change  in  the  rebel  mail  arrangements.  And  this 
is  probably  the  first  time  the  fact  was  ever  made 
public. 

From  the  Troy  Times. 

*  The  New  York  Commercial  says  Le  Grand  B. 
Cannon,  who  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
nomination  for  Governor,  is  a  small  man  physi 
cally,  but  it  is  not  stated  whether  he  is  a  small 
bore." — New  York  World. 

Colonel  Le  Grand  B.  Cannon,  we  believe,  is  a  na 
tive  of  Troy — at  all  events  he  resided  here  for 
many  years,  and  has  numerous  friends  and  rela 
tives  here.  His  father  was  the  founder  of  the  iron- 
rolling  mills  in  this  city,  and  built  the  Cannon 
Place  block,  which  bears  his  name.  He  was  a 
leading  citizen  in  Troy,  and  prominently  con 
nected  with  some  of  its  heaviest  business  enter 
prises.  Colonel  Cannon  is  a  director  of  the  Dela 
ware  and  Hudson  Canal  Company,  and  is  wealthy. 
He  derives  his  title  of  Colonel  from  having  served 


.2l6          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

on  General  Wool's  staff  during  the  late  war,  when 
that  officer  was  in  command  at  Fortress  Monroe. 
Colonel  Cannon  has  an  elegant  summer  residence 
at  Burlington,  Vt.,  and  is  interested  in  steamers 
on  Lake  Champlain  and  in  railroads  in  that  State 
and  in  northern  New  York.  He  is  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Union  League  Club,  and  took  an 
active  part  in  the  election  of  William  M.  Evarts 
to  the  United  States  Senate.  He  has  been  an 
active  Republican  since  he  left  the  old  Whig 
Party,  and  is  a  man  of  integrity,  character,  en 
ergy,  and  brains,  and  would  fill  the  bill  for  Gov 
ernor  with  great  acceptability  to  the  public.  He 
has  excellent  capacities  for  the  place,  and  his  nomi 
nation  would  be  popular,  and  a  strong  one. 

From  the  New  York  Tribune. 

Le  Grand  B.  Cannon  is  frequently  talked  about 
as  an  available  Republican  candidate  for  Gov 
ernor.  He  would  have  the  Union  League  solidly 
at  his  back.  I  heard  the  other  day  a  story  of  one 
of  Colonel  Cannon's  war  experiences,  in  which  the 
late  William  E.  Dodge  was  a  figure.  He  was 
chief  of  staff  for  General  Wool  at  the  outbreak  of 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

the  war,  and  did  as  much  as  any  other  one  man  in 
New  York  to  secure  the  equipment  and  despatch 
of  troops  to  the  seat  of  war.  On  Sunday,  April 
28th,  1861,  a  little  over  a  week  after  the  assault  by 
the  Baltimore  mob  on  the  Massachusetts  Sixth, 
Colonel  Cannon  went  to  the  house  of  a  friend  in 
Fifth  Avenue  to  state  an  urgent  case  to  him.  In 
substance  he  said  to  him  :  "  You  are  well  ac 
quainted  with  William  E.  Dodge — his  intimate 
friend.  Our  great  need  here  is  arms  for  our 
troops.  I  have  found  in  Canada  25,000  stand  of 
arms,  which  we  can  get  as  a  loan  if  we  give  an 
indemnity  bond  for  their  return  or  that  they  will 
be  paid  for.  I  can  get  all  the  signers  I  want  if 
Mr.  Dodge  will  sign  it.  I  know  he  would  sign  it 
on  Monday.  But  I  know  how  strict  he  is  about 
Sunday.  Yet  the  matter  is  urgent.  If  I  can  get 
the  bond  ready  to-night,  I  can  have  the  arms  here 
in  three  days."  The  friend  undertook  to  go  with 
him  to  Mr.  Dodge.  The  Colonel  stated  his  case 
there  as  eloquently  as  before,  and  Mr.  Dodge 
turned  to  his  desk  and  signed  the  bond,  saying  as 
he  did  so  :  "  I  do  not  see  how  I  could  do  a  better 
deed  on  Sunday." 


218          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 
From  the  New  York  Tribune. 

People  who  meet  Colonel  Le  Grand  B.  Cannon 
on  the  street  or  in  his  business  office,  casually,  do 
not  become  familiar  with  the  jolly,  sociable  nature 
under  that  dignified  exterior.  He  is  a  man  of 
perhaps  nearly  the  allotted  threescore  and  ten, 
rather  below  the  medium  stature,  with  delicately 
outlined  and  neatly  trimmed  gray  side-whiskers. 
Although  he  wears  a  serious  countenance  he  is 
fond  of  social  gatherings  where  moderation  is  the 
rule,  and  makes  himself  as  entertaining  with  the 
young  members  as  with  those  nearer  his  own  age. 
He  can  make  an  interesting  after-dinner  speech, 
and  has  a  fund  of  stories  always  on  hand  to  enter 
tain  and  enliven  his  listeners.  It  is  especially 
among  his  soldier  companions  that  Colonel  Can 
non  is  always  chatty,  and  he  delights  to  grasp  the 
hands  of  his  old  comrades  of  the  Civil  War.  It  is 
only  recently  that  he  joined  the  Military  Order  of 
the  Loyal  Legion,  and  at  the  last  meeting  he  re 
lated  the  following  incident  of  the  Fenian  uprising. 
General  Sweeney  commanded  the  Fenian  army 
that  crossed  the  Canadian  border.  United  States 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION.          2 19 

Marshal  Foster,  of  Vermont,  captured  General 
Sweeney  and  dispersed  the  army.  Foster  was 
Colonel  of  one  of  the  Vermont  regiments  in  the 
war,  and  was  promoted  to  be  a  Brigadier-Gen 
eral.  He  was  a  Titan  in  stature  and  strength,  but 
was  modest,  quiet,  and  singularly  engaging.  Yet 
he  was  full  of  resources,  and  evidently  had  a  con 
tempt  for  the  Fenian  raiders.  He  followed  their 
forces  to  the  Canadian  border,  and  reached  the 
field  after  they  had  engaged  the  Canadian  troops. 
He  quietly  entered  their  lines,  picked  up  General 
Sweeney,  put  him  into  a  carriage  he  had  ready  at 
hand,  and  then  drove  to  St.  Albans,  with  the  army 
following  their  prisoner  commander.  Perhaps 
this  is  the  first  and  only  instance  on  record  of  an 
entire  army  being  captured  by.  a  civil  officer. 
Generals  Meade  and  McDowell,  who  arrived  the 
day  after  the  affair,  declared  that  this  was  the 
boldest  instance  of  grand  strategy  on  record. 

From  the  New  York  Sun,  April  n,  1885. 

The  Union  League  Club  comes  squarely  up  to 
the  mark,  avowing  itself  to  be  what  it  is,  a  thor 
oughgoing  Republican  organization.  This  is  a 


220          REMINISCENCES    OF   THE   REBELLION. 

sincere  and  manly  expression,  and  we  congratu 
late  the  club  on  having  made  it.  More  than  all, 
we  congratulate  Colonel  Le  Grand  B.  Cannon  on 
his  carrying  through  such  a  declaration.  The 
Republican  Party  owes  a  great  deal  to  Colonel 
Cannon,  but  he  has  rarely  rendered  it  a  greater 
service,  than  in  this  instance.  A  brave,  accom 
plished,  earnest,  and  most  intelligent  and  fearless 
gentleman,  such  a  leader  is  of  priceless  value  to 
his  party.  Would  there  were  many  such,  Demo 
crats  as  well  as  Republicans  !  The  country  would 
be  the  gainer,  no  matter  in  which  party  they 
might  predominate. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

IN  CONCLUSION. 

FROM  earliest  manhood  I  have  taken  an  active 
interest  in  business,  and  especially  in  public  affairs, 
recognizing  that  the  theory  of  republican  govern 
ment  assumes  that  every  citizen  shall  be  a  politi 
cian,  and  shall  take  an  interest  in  public  affairs. 
A  member  of  the  Whig  Party  from  its  organiza 
tion,  I  was  afterward,  and  have  ever  since  been, 
associated  with  the  Republican  Party,  whose  car 
dinal  principles  are  a  protective  policy  designed 
to  develop  our  resources,  a  stable  currency,  and 
a  uniform  standard  of  value.  The  enduring  rec 
ord  of  the  Republican  Party  will  be  its  subduing 
the  Rebellion,  and  its  able  administration  of  pub 
lic  affairs  for  thirty  successive  years,  in  restoring 
harmony,  elevating  the  public  credit  to  a  higher 
standard  than  enjoyed  by  any  other  nation,  and 
the  development  of  our  industries  by  protective 
duties,  all  of  which  have  ensured  general  national 


222          REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

prosperity,  and  by  which  we  are  the  largest  pro 
ducing  and  wealthiest  nation  on  earth.  But  such 
a  result  could  only  have  been  achieved  by  the 
people  electing  to  legislative  and  executive  office 
men  of  highest  intelligence,  thoroughly  national, 
and  in  all  their  legislation  governed  by  practical 
views  and  not  by  the  unstable  theories  of  a  school 
of  political  adventurers,  who  assert  that  political 
economy  is  an  exact  science  and  can  be  success 
fully  applied  to  all  nations  and  to  all  conditions  of 
business  in  national  life. 

I  especially  desire  to  impress  on  my  family  that 
society  divides  itself  practically  on  the  same  lines 
under  any  system  of  government,  be  it  imperial, 
monarchical,  or  republican.  People  of  property, 
business  ability,  progress,  the  educated,  religious 
and  law-abiding,  on  one  side  ;  and  the  ignorant, 
poor,  lawless,  agitators  and  revolutionists  on  the 
other.  The  latter  have  had  temporary  successes, 
as  they  will  have  in  the  future  ;  but  intelligence 
and  property  will  assert  themselves  in  the  end, 
and  not  infrequently,  perhaps,  by  curtailing  per 
sonal  rights  in  government. 

The  decline  and  decay  of  nations  has  been  the 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          223 

result  of  excessive  individual  wealth,  and  its  abuse 
in  leading  to  luxury,  selfishness,  frivolity,  and  de 
bauchery,  to  the  exclusive  gratification  of  private 
pleasure  and  the  neglect  of  public  duty,  which 
justly  produces  irritation  with  the  masses,  and 
leads  in  the  end  to  violent  resistance  to  lawful 
authority.  It  may  be  safely  assumed  that  all  un 
just  legislation  and  perversions  of  law,  all  the  cor 
ruption,  all  the  tyranny  and  brigandage  of  the 
police  in  our  city,  and  the  venality  of  our  courts, 
has  been  the  outgrowth  of  the  neglect  and  indiffer 
ence  of  the  better  class  of  our  people  of  their  pub 
lic,  political  duties,  of  a  selfish  and  almost  crim 
inal  neglect  of  attendance  at  political  meetings 
and  the  polls.  Only  when  their  liberty,  prop 
erty,  and  lives  are  threatened  by  widespread  cor 
ruption  are  they  aroused.  Then  they  find  it  no 
easy  matter  to  drive  out  the  villains  they  have 
permitted  to  govern  them. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  it  is  a  sovereign 
duty  to  serve  the  country,  Jn  war  or  peace,  and 
that  under  a  republic  individual  responsibility  is 
paramount,  and  is  measured  only  by  opportuni 
ties.  If  his  duties  are  faithfully  discharged  the 


224          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

individual  is  respected  and  his  influence  is  large, 
and  society  is  comparatively  safe.  I  hope,  there 
fore,  that  these  truths  will  be  remembered  and 
practised  by  my  family.  I  would  especially  im 
press  upon  them  that  the  disturbing-  elements  of 
society  are  at  this  very  time  seriously  agitating 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  therefore  the  duty, 
the  sovereign  duty  of  every  thoughtful  person, 
more  especially  in  a  republic,  never  to  forget  or 
neglect  his  public  political  duties  as  a  citizen,  is 
emphatic  and  vital. 

I  hope  these  important  truths  will  be  remem 
bered  and  practised  by  my  family.  It  is  most 
commendable  by  honest  means  to  secure  prop 
erty,  but  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  there  is 
more  satisfaction  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth  than 
in  its  possession.  Commercial  success  with  not  a 
few  begets  an  ambition  for  social  recognition,  not 
by  any  means  difficult  of  attainment  in  the  present 
low  tone  of  fashionable  society,  which  fails  to  dis 
criminate  between  notoriety  and  reputation.  All 
such  low  views  and  aims  I  desire  my  family 
and  friends  to  guard  against  and  to  spurn,  re- 


REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    REBELLION.          225 

membering  that  self-respect  is  a  valuable   posses 
sion. 

I  further  desire  especially  to  remind  my  family 
that,  following  the  habits  of  my  ancestors,  I  have 
always  been  active  in  business  life,  principally,  in 
my  day,  in  corporations  as  director  or  manager. 
This  disposition  to  active  work  in  the  affairs  of 
the  world  I  inherited  from  my  ancestors,  who  for 
two  centuries  and  a  half  have  been  prominent  in 
business  life,  and  who  have  been  uniformly  suc 
cessful,  there  never  having  been  an  instance  of 
failure  or  insolvency  in  their  history  from  gener 
ation  to  generation  ;  a  result  which  could  only 
have  been  accomplished  by  prudence  and  econ 
omy,  and  particularly  by  always  keeping  their 
personal  expenditure  within  their  earnings  and 
income.  Knowing  that  with  the  most  intelligent 
sagacity  in  investment  the  personal  securities  of 
the  highest  credit  of  one  year  may  become  worth 
less,  by  a  change  of  conditions,  in  the  course  of  a 
few  succeeding  years,  the  only  safety  for  ensuring 
such  results  is  that  annually  a  surplus  should  be 
accumulated  from  the  income  to  meet  the  possible 


226          REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION. 

contingencies  of  investment  in  the  future.  This 
experience  is  universal,  and  recognizing  the  fact 
that  the  necessary  expenses  of  an  increasing  and 
growing  family  increase  measurably  with  the  age 
and  condition  of  its  members,  the  only  possible 
safety  for  the  future  is  that  the  personal  expenses 
of  a  family  shall  always  be  within  the  annual  in 
come.  By  following  this  rule  inflexibly,  disaster 
cannot  overtake  a  family. 

The  philosophy  of  life  is  governed  by  rules 
which  cannot  be  violated  with  impunity.  Being 
endoAved  with  a  fair  average  of  health,  it  is  of  the 
first  importance  that  the  mind  and  body  should 
be  employed  in  some  active  work,  and  that  work 
should  be  relieved  by  rest  and  by  diversion,  in 
the  direction  of  healthful  exercise  or  social  enjoy 
ment,  above  all  with  one's  own  family.  Home 
should  be  the  centre  of  life. 

To  keep  up  with  the  progress  of  the  age,  it  is 
important  to  find  one's  associations  with  the 
younger  generation.  To  keep  young  one  must 
keep  with  the  young.  I  have  as  far  as  possible 


REMINISCENCES   OF   THE    REBELLION.          22; 

avoided  old  fogies,  and  found  my  pleasures  with 
my  juniors.  There  is  a  double  compensation  in 
this.  Youth  has  a  natural  respect  for  its  seniors, 
which  serves  to  temper  youthful  impulses  and  ex 
travagancies  ;  and  age  is  freshened  by  the  associ 
ations  of  youth. 

Live  as  far  as  possible  a  natural  life  ;  rise  early 
and  go  to  bed  early — don't  turn  day  into  night 
and  night  into  day  ;  thus  you  will  preserve  diges 
tion  and  the  nervous  system,  secure  health,  and 
prolong  life.  Don't  cultivate  disease  by  imagin 
ing  that  you  are  afflicted  with  a  succession  of  ail 
ments.  Disease  can  be  cultivated  by  the  imagina 
tion  about  as  readily  as  flowers  can  by  glass  and 
water.  Beat  disease  by  the  will  rather  than  by 
the  apothecary.  Don't  have  time  to  be  sick. 
Statistics  prove  that  only  five  per  cent  of  the  ills  of 
life  are  averted  by  the  doctor.  The  doctor  is 
more  a  luxury  than  a  necessity.  The  laboratory 
and  the  microscope  are  discovering  the  origin  of 
disease,  and  how  to  prevent  it.  A  venerable  Ger 
man  physician,  in  active  practice  in  his  hundred 
and  second  year,  being  asked  what  rules  of  health 


228          REMINISCENCES   OF  THE    REBELLION. 

he  had  practised,  replied  that  he  had  violated 
every  rule  of  health  that  he  had  ever  heard  of. 
In  other  words,  he  had  never  cultivated  disease. 

In  short,  be  brave  and  not  a  coward.  Life  is  of 
little  value  if  one  is  in  constant  apprehension  that 
it  is  threatened. 


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